McDonald's Sky Kitchen

"35 restaurants in Australia worth visiting for their design."

– Vogue Australia

"The cutting edge of experiential retail."

– Morning Brew USA

"Everyone’s seen more McDonald’s than they can remember. But there’s one McDonald’s that, once they see it, they never forget. It’s in Sydney Airport’s Terminal 1."

– Andrew Newman, Retail Brew

"The most instagrammed place at Sydney Airport. People have started arriving early for their flights just to see it."

– Glyn Williams, General Manager, Sydney Airport

"How Sydney Airport’s McDonald’s Sky Kitchen broke the Internet. The winning numbers: 190K impressions, 11,500 likes and 86 comments."

– FRAME Magazine

"Continually innovative, global design firm Landini Associates have recreated an icon."

– Inside Retail

"A truly stunning restaurant and a reflection on what you can achieve when you have first class partners such as Landini Associates."

– Josh Bannister, Senior Development Director, McDonald’s Australia

"McDonald's Sky Kitchen is undoubtedly the star attraction at Sydney Airport's T1."

– Inside Retail

"A world first for McDonald's, the design has been called ‘sophisticated fast food’, ‘fancy’, ‘mesmerising', 'freaking gorgeous’ and even ‘McSthetic’."

– FRAME Magazine

Floating above the departing passengers, and announcing itself from afar, is a glowing yellow glass box; McDonald’s Sky Kitchen at Sydney Airport’s Terminal 1.

The brief was simple: create an iconic, memorable customer experience, like nothing seen before.

For our design team, this meant doing something innovative, an example of how McDonald’s continues to push boundaries in design.

Placing the kitchen above the counter, whilst visually stimulating, was structurally complex. Ensuring it could deliver its wares to the customers below, efficiently, quickly, and without causing chaos, was an even steeper challenge.

To answer this, we combined kiosk ordering technology and a “transporter” delivery system to vertically deliver orders from the "Kitchen in the Sky" down to customers below, all the while providing the theatre and entertainment of unique spectacle.

Client

McDonald's Global
Location

T1, Sydney Airport
Size

288 square meters
Category

Food, Hospitality, Retail
Scope

Brand Strategy, Concept, Master Planning, Interior Design and Graphic Design
Photography by

Trevor Mein
Awards
- 2020 Frame Awards Longlisted, Best Restaurant
- 2020 IDEA-Tops China Winner, Best Interior Dining-Space
- 2020 Frame Awards Social Media Award, Restaurant of the Year
- 2019 Eat Drink Design Awards Shortlisted, Best Restaurant Design
- 2018 IDEA Awards Shortlisted, Best Hospitality
- 2018 Driven x Design Sydney Gold Winner Hospitality on the Go