McDonald’s launches a bold new restaurant concept | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

A new trend has been blooming in the fast-food industry in recent years: high-concept restaurants and offshoots of household name brands.

It’s an interesting way to put a fresh spin on a brand that’s been around forever, and it attracts new customers while keeping longtime customers coming back.

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McDonald’s did it in 2024 with its launch of CosMc, a new concept restaurant specifically built around drinks and snacks. Its menu features trendy options like an Iced Vanilla Matcha Latte and an Iced Tumeric Spiced Latte, appealing to the Starbucks fan at a slightly lower price point than the famous Seattle-based chain offers.

Burger King is making a similar move, but rather than building out a new offshoot, it’s pouring money into its pre-existing locations as a part of a “Reclaim the Flame” investment program launched in Sept. 2022.

One of those changes is the new “Sizzle” restaurant design, which boasts a clean, modern look that combines white walls with wood details and bold, bright orange art.

But the real selling point is how the design, featuring both kiosk and in-store mobile order and pickup, made customers’ experiences easier than ever. According to North American president Tom Curtis, these designs have been implemented “so the guest gets the same consistent experience every time they come to one of our restaurants.”

Now McDonald’s is making another move to stay fresh in the competitive fast-food market, and it’s unlike anything the chain has ever done.

The new McDonald’s “Mood Engine” concept in Hong Kong.

Image source&colon; Landini Associates

McDonald’s bold new concept

When you think about going to a McDonald’s, you probably envision the locations near where you live, but McDonald’s newest location looks nothing like the ones you know.

The chain has launched its new “Mood Engine” concept restaurant at Admiralty Station in Hong Kong — its second-busiest location in the world — to celebrate the brand’s 50th anniversary since it first appeared in Hong Kong.

Designed by design and brand consultant agency Landini Associates, the new space boasts a 72-foot screen that uses lighting, color, and familiar McDonald’s characters to shift the mood of the space as it transitions from daytime to night.

“The Mood-Engine resonates to the energy required by the guests in the moment. Like a chameleon, it responds to its environment,” said Mark Landini, the founder and creative director behind Landini Associates.

“As customers rise from the station below, they’re welcomed by a reflective double-canopy entrance — a contemporary homage to McDonald’s original roofline and a nod to Ray Kroc’s classic design,” a press release on the redesign reads. “Now framed by glowing feature walls in McDonald’s signature yellow, aimed at creating an unmissable beacon — just like the earliest restaurants once were.”

McDonald’s continues to explore new designs

Admiralty Station is not the only McDonald’s to get a makeover, as the brand has continuously explored ways to modernize its interiors.

Another fascinating experiment for the brand started in 2024, when a pilot program launched in Belgium and France to envision a new look for McDonald’s. This one was helmed by Antwerp-based studio WeWantMore and implements options like energy-efficient LED tubes, stools and chairs made from 100% recycled content, and the use of vivid primary colors like blue, yellow, and red.

While the new designs certainly have an eco-friendly focus, McDonald’s says it didn’t feel the need to advertise that fact.

“We didn’t want to do any flag-waving,” says Silke Korporal, head of global design at McDonald’s, “so we didn’t advertise a sustainable decor inside the design. We just wanted it to be.”