McDonald's Grabenstätt

Roth, August 2011 – At the end of last July, Michael Heinritzi, one of the most successful McDonald’s franchisees in Europe, celebrated a world premiere in Grabenstätt, located beside the beautiful Lake Chiem. His new restaurant on the A8 is the first in the world to sport the new “Spirit of Family” design.

The schedule was tight, but with a project as complex as this one, and with both the global McDonald’s family and the press awaiting expectantly, there was simply no room for any mistakes. Mangelberger is proud to have justified the faith placed in the company for the implementation of this, the prototype of a what is to be the future restaurant generation. All the electrical work was completed within the allotted time and with no defects, all the components of the extensive media equipment were installed and the standardised Mangelberger power distribution systems with integrated power management duly put into operation.

Several years ago, McDonald’s began implementing fundamental changes to the image of fast-food restaurants. And now, with its “Spirit of Family“ design concept, whose development was headed by star architect, Philippe Avanzi, the world market leader has finally taken the step of turning into a family restaurant. Visitors here at Grabenstätt really can sense – down to the last detail – that everyone is welcome here, both parents and children.

Children can play outside in the Ronald Gym Club, with as much basketball, jumping and climbing as they like. The interior furnishings can be reconfigured in a few moments – turning a seating area into a playground or a two-person table into a children’s birthday setting. Transport trolleys for multiple trays can be steered with a single hand, the sanitary facilities include children’s toilets, and the separate baby change room includes baby care products and free nappies, while the service station provides parents and children with baby food warming facilities, bibs, colouring pictures and crayons, and guests can compile and order whatever items they wish from the easy-order stations.

As well as comfort, major roles are also played by technology and entertainment. On offer are a large number of permanently installed iPads, a W-LAN network, interactive TV monitors showing programming suitable for children, interactive games projected onto the tables in the interior and non-cash payment options – all designed to make your break on the A8 as relaxing and entertaining as possible. The many technical gimmicks that the planning and implementation activities included required Mangelberger’s electrical planners – who were also part of the media equipment planning team – to prove the full breadth of their experience.

Last, but not least, Grabenstätt is also a prototype of the restaurant of the future. The energy-saving characteristics of the building include a photovoltaic plant, which allows it to dispense completely with gas during the summer months. A charging post for electric cars has also been put into test operation.

The Mangelberger power management facility is integrated in the system as a whole to ensure that energy consumption is kept to a minimum even during ongoing operations. The consumptions of almost every single piece of kitchen equipment and every technical building facility are monitored. The information derived from this data shows the operations management when equipment and facilities are operational and with what degree of efficiency. Deviations from targets and unnecessarily high electricity consumption are reported immediately by the system, with indications of optimisation potential given in both kilowatt hours and euros and cents, to ensure it can be understood by the entire personnel.