Paul Mellon Arts Center (Choate Rosemary Hall)

Choate, a boys' school, was preparing to take in the girls' school Rosemary Hall, an early step into coeducation, when it commissioned this arts centre from I. M. Pei & Partners. The merger of the two schools and the construction of the building were separate initiatives, but they became inseparable: the arts centre is the most visible trace of the union. The school meant it to bridge the boys of Choate and the girls of Rosemary Hall.

I. M. Pei and Ralph Heisel were its lead designers. Planning began in February 1968, building work in April 1970 and the centre was finished in May 1972; it was dedicated the same year. It was a gift from the alumnus Paul Mellon (class of 1925). At the dedication, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee, a Choate graduate, called it "an auditorium of ideas". The building won first prize for structure from the New York Association of Consulting Engineers in 1973, then the National Honor Award of the American Institute of Architects in 1974.

In 2015 the school announced a $10 million gift from the alumnus William T. Little and his wife Frances, to refurbish the main theatre and other parts of the building; the theatre has carried their name ever since.

Conceived as a sculpted gateway between the two campuses, the building starts from a rectangular volume carved open and pulled apart into two self-contained units, which a broad outdoor path cuts across on the diagonal. On one side a triangular teaching wing gathers studios, lounges and, on the ground floor, a student union; on the other a curved wing holds the theatre and echoes the radiating rows of seats inside. The two wings stand apart at ground level, but glass walls framing the courtyard let people see the activity within; underground, a corridor with shared facilities joins them.

The brief sought to draw in people with no interest in the arts, so that they would pass through the building without commitment and be drawn into taking part. The studios of the triangular east wing are designed for natural light, with two balconies above the gallery. The school presents the centre as the prototype for the East Building of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, another Pei work.

The centre houses the school's arts teaching (music, theatre, visual arts) and presents concerts, plays and exhibitions by students, teachers and guest artists. Its main hall, the Little Theater, occupies the west wing; the gallery and the fine arts studios are in the east wing.

The galleries show work by students, alumni and professional artists, local or visiting. Performances and exhibitions are open to neighbours of the school as well, with free or modestly priced admission. The centre stands on the Choate Rosemary Hall campus in Wallingford.