5 Shipping Container Starbucks, Taiwan
STARBUCKS SHIPPING CONTAINER STORE IN JULIEN TAIWAN DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT KONGO KAMA
Starbucks has dabbled in turning metal shipping containers into tiny coffee shops in the past, but they pale in comparison to the large boxy creation that can be found in Taiwan. Located at julien Bay Mall, the Starbucks location is made out of 29 shipping containers that are artistically stacked.
The whole space measures 3,444 square feet (320 square meters) and stands two stories tall. Large windows cap some of the white containers, and skylights let in even more natural light. The creation isn’t just about artistic flair (although Japanese architect Kongo kama’s design is certainly eye-catching); it’s also part of Starbucks’s plan to build stores that are more sustainable.
4 Sauna Burger King, Finland
A Burger King In Finland Just Added A 15- Person Sauna
The meat sweats are usually something people want to avoid, but in the Burger King located on Helsinki’s main street, sweating and meat are brought together in the form of a sauna. The in-restaurant sauna is big enough to accommodate 15 diners. There’s also a shower, a locker room, and a media lounge. In 2016, the price of hiring the sauna for three hours was 250 euros (at the time, $283), which excludes the cost of food.
Although the idea of sweating over a Whopper may not appeal to everyone, saunas are a way of life in Finland, with one sauna for every three people. Burger King’s contribution to the number of saunas in the country won Euro monitor’s award for New Concepts in Food Service, which called it “a powerful example of localization.” The strange sauna has even been graced by Paul Rudd and Richard Abode, who visited for a 2016 episode of the TV show Travel Man.
3 Traditional Mac hiya Starbucks, Japan
Starbucks Old-Japan Style – Kyoto – Letters from Japan
Starbucks is no stranger to matching the design of its stores to the surrounding architecture, but a particularly unique example of this can be found in Kyoto, Japan. Higashiosaka is one of Kyoto’s best-preserved historical areas, with its traditional wooden townhouses called mac hiya. The Starbucks store in this area is housed inside a 100-year-old renovated mac hiya and blends in seamlessly with the surrounding buildings.
A Japanese garden can be found on the first floor, while upstairs, there are Tatami mats and silk cushions. The only signage to indicate that it’s even a Starbucks is the siren logo (commonly mistaken for a mermaid) on the traditional teal door curtains called loren. Takafumi Minaguchi, the CEO of Starbucks Coffee Japan, explains that “as this store is in an area of great cultural significance, we feel a responsibility to be the stewards of the building’s traditional architecture and ensure that it remains an integral part of its historic neighborhood for many years to come.”
2 Airplane McDonald’s, New Zealand
The Coolest McDonald’s in the World
The McDonald’s in Taupo on New Zealand’s North Island is home to a decommissioned Douglas DC-3 airplane, where customers can tuck into their Big Macs and McNuggets. When the plane was originally grounded, it was parked outside of Taupo’s Aeroplane Car Company and used as a prop for advertisement. In 1990, McDonald’s purchased the building, and the sale came with the plane, so they turned it into a dining space. There are 10 tables inside, which can seat 20 diners, and the untouched cockpit can be viewed through a glass door. Owner Eileen Byrne says that “Our locals are very proud of it. It has become a landmark here in New Zealand.”
New Zealand’s impressive airplane restaurant isn’t the only McDonald’s located in a converted mode of transport. In the McDonald’s in Barstow, California, meals can be eaten in old train cars.
1 One World Trade Center Subway, New York, U.S.A.
Subway Shop Pulled Sky-high for Workers at WTC
The One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the United States, and the construction of the 1,776-foot (541-meter) high skyscraper posed a problem for the hungry ironworkers: where to get lunch. Ascending and descending the in-progress building would have taken up a lot of valuable time at lunch, so a Subway shop was installed in a cargo container that could be raised up the building as the workers rose ever higher.
The small Subway shop cost $500,000 to build and was raised via a hydraulic lift, taking about two hours to ascend per floor. The food and beverages were hoisted up to the ever-rising shop via cranes. Food waste was composted, and leftover drinks were boiled until they evaporated. Two hundred meals needed to be sold each day for the restaurant to break even, but in the end, only around 90 workers tucked into the sandwiches at lunch. DCM, the steel company that put the building up, agreed to compensate for any losses, with the franchise running up a bill of $180,000. But DCM’s Bill Grutta doesn’t regret it because “it means we saved 90 rides on the hoist a day.”
The exclusive Subway in the sky was forced to close after about two years of operation. At the 90th floor, near the top, the building began to narrow, and there wasn’t enough room for the sandwich shop anymore. Still, it followed the workers up the majority of the building, which rises to 104 floors.
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