World’s fanciest McDonald’s is full of leather, gold and marble

With its glass floor-to-ceiling windows and grand spiral staircase, you’d be forgiven for assuming this building is a modern art gallery or a museum.

But, in fact, it’s not a swanky gallery. It’s not even an Apple Store. It’s a McDonald’s.

Finished in 2015, the glass-fronted McDonald’s can be found in the Dutch city of Rotterdam.

Designed by Mei Architects, the classy fast food joint is decked out with leather seats and marble tables and is as swanky on the inside as it is from the outside.

The spiral staircase leads up to a dining room on the restaurant’s second floor, while the huge windows give the whole place a light, airy vibe.

As the architects behind the design say, “a perforated golden facade” presents the building to the street outside, making those classic Golden Arches look a little less golden in comparison.

The food may be the same as every other McDonald’s but the spacious interior means you can enjoy your Big Mac in comfort.

And if you want to eat your fast food al fresco, you can always make use of the stylish outdoor furniture, in keeping with Rotterdam’s outdoorsy town planning.

But Holland’s premiere McDonald’s wasn’t always so impressive.

In fact, it may have been one of the world’s least swanky McDonald’s, in a building described by residents as the “ugliest building in Rotterdam.”

It’s fair to say that the old McDonald’s was as bad as they come, set in a 1960s building which used to be a cigar shop.

But rather than tear the old building down, architects were given free reign to cook up a fast food joint fit for a king.

Speaking about their new-look restaurant, the designers behind the radical overhaul said: “As McDonald’s is open day and night, 24/7, its appearance after dark is important.”

“By day the building is inviting to shoppers, while in the evening it glows to attract the nightlife crowd.”