The center was established by a gift from Paul Mellon (Yale College Class of 1929) of his British art collection to Yale in 1966, together with an endowment for operations of the Center, and funds for a building to house the works of art. The building was designed by Louis I. Kahn and constructed at the corner of York and Chapel Streets in New Haven, across the street from one of Kahn's earliest buildings,[3] the Yale University Art Gallery, built in 1953. The Yale Center for British Art was completed after Kahn's death in 1974, and opened to the public on April 15, 1977.