Which architect designed the original McDonald's Golden Arches restaurant style?

Architect Stanley Clark Meston designed the original McDonald’s Golden Arches restaurant style. Working with his assistant Charles Fish, he transformed the McDonald brothers’ rough architectural idea into the striking restaurant design that became an early visual signature of the chain.

In 1952, Richard and Maurice McDonald wanted a new San Bernardino building that would improve efficiency while attracting motorists. Richard brought a sketch suggesting two arches at the sides of the restaurant. Meston developed that concept into two tall, yellow, sheet-metal arches trimmed with neon. The design reflected the optimistic, roadside “Googie” architecture associated with postwar Southern California.

The first franchised outlet using Meston’s design opened in Phoenix, Arizona, in May 1953. Franchisees were subsequently expected to use versions of the plan, adjusted for local sites and building codes. The arches were therefore part of the building before they became the company’s logo.

Meston is sometimes confused with later logo designers or with famous architects such as Eero Saarinen. Those figures did not create the original McDonald’s restaurant style. Meston’s contribution was architectural; the later logo evolved separately.