After years of being located in Amsterdam Southeast, McDonald's moved to Utrecht in the summer of 2022. The choice fell on the sustainable Central Park tower in Utrecht's redeveloped station area. Thanks to its central location, the new headquarters can now better serve as a home base for all franchisees, suppliers and associates.
The new headquarters in the Central Park tower required a design appropriate to the McDonald's of the future and the sustainable goals of the city of Utrecht and Central Park tower. For this, McDonald's enlisted the help of architecture firm Desarc, which has been working on the chain's restaurant concepts for years.
In addition to being a nice place to work for the 150 service employees, the new office had to become a home for all franchisees, suppliers and associates. In addition, consideration had to be given to the McDonald's Academy located in the two-story office.
During the design process, another unexpected challenge surfaced: the pandemic. This provided new insights into the role of the office and the desire for a hybrid working environment. Desarc translated McDonald's specific wishes and developments from the pandemic into an interior concept that optimally supports this new way of working.
We were asked to provide much of the loose furniture for the new McDonald's headquarters. Our team coordinated the furniture as much as possible with Desarc's design and McDonald's main colors. In this way, a natural and recognizable connection was made. For the office, our deliveries included: the AAL chairs from HAY, Kipu pouf from Lapalma, Musette side tables from De Vorm. From DUM Among other things, the Beech Stool bar stools applied, and in this design the Mare-bank of Artifort and Reverse-table of Andreu World obviously not missing.
Desarc's design included a lot of unique custom furniture that had to be taken into account. For example, the McDonald's logo was incorporated into the top of one of the conference tables and a rug from Donkersloot. As part of our services, some of the furniture was first put on trial. This way McDonald's could calmly compare the different options to make an informed choice for the new headquarters.
Photography: William Moore
