Which 1950s McDonald’s restaurant design first placed large yellow arches on both sides of the building?

Stanley Clark Meston’s design first placed large yellow arches on both sides of a McDonald’s restaurant building in the 1950s.

Meston was an architect who worked with McDonald’s to create a highly visible roadside restaurant design. The building used red-and-white materials, a sloping roof, and tall yellow arches positioned at the sides. The arches were intended to attract motorists and make the restaurant recognizable from a distance.

The architectural feature later became the basis for the Golden Arches symbol. In the early design, the arches were separate structures integrated into the building. They were eventually combined into the stylized M that became McDonald’s corporate mark.

Ray Kroc is often associated with the spread of the arches because his organization expanded the chain nationally, but he did not design the original architectural arches. Walt Disney and Frank Lloyd Wright also had no role in creating this McDonald’s building design.