October 2012 – Minneapolis, Minn. – After Heartland Food Corporation recently acquired 40 Burger King Franchises in the Twin Cities area, it brought on Krech, O’Brien, Mueller & Associates to assist in creating an engaging new exterior image for the well-known fast food chain.
The relationship began when KOMA Interior Designer Cindy Nagel worked with Heartland on a Burger King remodel project in the Mall of America food court. After the successful completion of that project, KOMA went on to provide architecture and design services for the exteriors of five additional free-standing locations.
KOMA worked closely with Heartland to determine the desired look and feel of each individual Burger King location. All existing locations have a prototype framework that determines the corporate design standards for that building – items such as materials, paints, finishes and colors. These standards provide visual consistency for the restaurants. For some locations such as Oakdale, Minn., and White Bear Lake, Minn., the prototype is less common lending to fewer corporate design standards and more design possibilities. Project manager and KOMA Designer Corey Schmitt explains that “this allowed us to do something completely different, while still keeping the design cost effective and within the corporate guidelines.”
The new design is a departure from the former bright colors and in-and-out feel, explains Schmitt. “It was fun to see the various prototypes that were built over the years, figure out the design intent behind them and analyze how the designs have transformed over the years,” he says. “The best part, though, is seeing the completed product because it really is completely different. Working closely together we were able to develop a great end product.”
The Burger King remodel located in Oakdale, Minn. was featured in the Star Tribune. To read all about it, click here.