When a company as rooted in popular culture as McDonald’s moves its headquarters after 47 years, it’s not just a momentous business decision—it’s a statement about the way we live our lives. Changes in our attitudes toward food, work, leisure, where we live, how we define ourselves all contributed to McDonald’s move from the campus at Oak Brook to a 9-story building in Chicago’s West Loop. McDonald’s envisioned a new HQ that would speak to an increasingly urban and health-conscious culture. To make the move an architectural event worthy of its business impact, McDonald’s hired two visionary design firms—IA Interior Architects and Studio O+A—to turn a lean, light-infused shell into a celebration of the company’s spirit.