It’s no longer with us but the spaceship McDonald’s, just off the A1 in Alconbury (UK), was an icon in the 90s. But it wasn’t always a Maccy D’s. The building opened in 1990 and traded as a Megatron, a space-age restaurant (below), but 3 years later, it transformed into a McDonald’s.
According to a former worker at the McDonald’s restaurant, the building had computer systems that allowed you to order at your table, predating the ordering kiosks by a couple of decades. However, due to echoey walls, poor lighting, and rising maintenance costs, the spaceship closed in 2000 and was demolished in 2008.
If you love abandoned buildings like I do, check out some of photos via Comfortable Disorientation and a camcorder still from 1993 (from the video at the top).
Googie architecture related: Paul R. Williams: the Black architect of public buildings and celebrity homes
McDonald’s related: The most expensive McDonald’s pickle in the world, Russia and the McDonald’s exodus, a very Imperial McDonald’s restaurant in Porto, Jason Kottke on old McDonald’s menus, and Yesterworld’s visual history of McDonaldland.