McDonald’s Pushkin Square, Moscow by Landini Associates
The fast-food giant’s restaurants are getting a new look courtesy of Landini Associates
Project Info
Address
Bolshaya Bronnaya Ulitsa 29, Moscow, 123104, Russia
Size
1,087 sq m
Client
McDonald’s
Design
Landini Associates (Project Ray concept, interior and graphic design)
landiniassociates.com
Original opening
31 January 1990
Interior remodel completion
January 2020
Suppliers
Coordinated locally by the client
Words by Sophie Tolhurst
Images by Andrew Meredith
Over the past five years a new look has been rolled out to McDonald’s restaurants across the world. Named Project Ray after the brand’s founder Ray Kroc, it’s a long way from the white plastic and grinning clowns that I remember from my childhood years, but also a significant step beyond subsequent redesigns, such as 2006’s Forever Young look, which introduced more wood, muted colours such as olive green and terracotta, and softer lighting. First launched in December 2015 at Admiralty Station in Hong Kong, the interiors of the Project Ray feature natural materials, a mature palette, and elegant lighting and furniture.
It acts as an experiment in ‘non-design’, says Landini Associates, the design and brand consultants behind the new look. ‘We were approached by McDonald’s for the simplicity of our work and our reputation globally in food design,’ explains creative director Mark Landini. Catering for huge numbers of people across the globe, with more than 38,695 restaurants worldwide (as of 2019), McDonald’s is a global brand. For Project Ray to have a global vision, Landini explains: ‘We were assigned a design manager with whom we travelled the world before starting the design in order to familiarise ourselves with the issues.’
Landini continues: ‘Once we had agreed a reverse brief, we undertook multiple iterations before being given various sites in Hong Kong to trial. The design was an immediate hit and has been modified very little from this first test.’
A mix of zinc, concrete and oak tables and benches is present in the restaurant
The extensive preparation paid off and the concept has since been rolled out to locations across Australia, Asia, Europe and America. Now, a historically important McDonald’s site – the first in Russia – has been treated to a redesign, celebrating 30 years since it first opened in 1990.
A materials palette of concrete, glass, stainless steel and oak aims to create a ‘recognisable neutrality’. Landini explains that ‘the intention is to “hero” the food, the service and the people who come to enjoy it’. Seemingly, this is working well for multiple markets, with Landini Associates describing the project as so successful that it has been sought out by every global territory as the flagship of choice.
Zinc, concrete and oak tables and benches aim to challenge customers’ perceptions of fast food by ‘elevating the environment’. Against this neutral backdrop, the brand’s colours are still present: yellow, the colour of the brand’s famous ‘Golden Arches’, is a highlight colour throughout, used for areas such as feature staircases, while smaller elements – chair legs, ceiling fixtures – are red. Laser-cut drawings spaced around the walls of the restaurant depict recognisable brand symbols and products, including the McDonald’s arches, fries and coffee beans.
Unique to Pushkin Square is an evolved look for the McCafe section, which is almost entirely timber in order to be warmer and more inviting, differentiating the serviced cafe from the rest of the restaurant.
Another innovation for Pushkin Square is the FreeStyle Step Seating – ‘a focal point at the end of the main circulation path that breaks up the 1,087m2 dining room’, explains Wayne Cheng, design director at Landini Associates.
Yellow, the colour of the brand’s ‘Golden Arches’ is a highlight colour throughout
The elevated seats also allow views into Pushkin Square outside, which is further reflected via mirrored ceilings.
While McDonald’s has long been synonymous with fast food, this restaurant is meant to offer a pause – ‘a calm respite from the non-stop action of Pushkin Square’, explains Cheng; perhaps particularly important to a site such as this, which has one of the highest guest counts among McDonald’s restaurants globally.
The layout helps to create many different areas and levels of seclusion over the restaurant’s three floors and multiple connecting mezzanines. Mesh screens separate areas, while different seating types accommodate families, groups and individuals.
Lighting has also been used to alter the mood: main circulation spaces and quick dining areas are brightly lit thanks to an illuminated ceiling element, while light levels in the McCafe, lounge seating, quieter booth seating and open step seating are designed to increase dwell time.
The interiors are ‘neutrally’ comforting rather than overtly cheery, but McDonald’s still wants the restaurants to provide a ‘bubble of happy’ for its many customers. While Covid-19 has seen us stuck in a different kind of bubble for much of the past year, at least pre-Covid, this latest redesign by Landini Associates seemed to be working well for the chain.
