Which architect designed the two large arches for McDonald's early restaurant buildings?

Stanley Clark Meston designed the two large arches for McDonald's early restaurant buildings.

Meston was an architect based in California who worked with McDonald's executives in the 1950s. The arches were intended to make the restaurants highly visible from passing roads, an important consideration when roadside drive-ins were McDonald's main format.

The original arches were physical yellow structures incorporated into the building design, not simply a printed logo. Their bright color and unusual shape helped distinguish McDonald's restaurants from competitors. The San Bernardino restaurant opened by Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1948 had a different design, so the arches are associated especially with the chain's later expansion.

A common mix-up is crediting the logo's later refinement to Meston. Jim Schindler created the overlapping-arches symbol used as a corporate logo in 1962, while Meston designed the architectural arches that inspired it. The arches eventually became recognizable even when no restaurant building was visible.