Burger Laboratory by Lotteria, Seoul

With the fast food climate rapidly changing, burger chain Lotteria has overhauled its look to reflect growing consumer interest in quality, freshness and sustainability.

The result is Burger Laboratory, a bright and cheery space that combines science with culinary art – suggesting an all-new, ahead-of-its-time approach to burger creation. From the window decals of beakers and flasks to the neon signage highlighting key ingredients, the vibe is future-forward and experimental.

JHP Design has crafted an experimental science-inspired space for Lotteria’s Burger Lab.

A neutral palette of slate and tile provides a backdrop for brightly painted industrial piping, laboratory-inspired bench seating and eye-catching blackboard-style murals adorned with periodic tables and food-inspired diagrams. Lab equipment makes a cameo in the space’s signage and even a lighting installation, while traditional lab tables have swapped out their Bunsen Burner outlets for phone charging ones. Yellow-and-black ‘radioactive’ doors add a pop of color.

Customers can place orders ahead of time using an app, or through the store’s tablets. A massive overhead digital clock marks time as orders are prepared on the spot by ‘burgeristas’ in an open kitchen, and customers can mix their own drink ‘beakers’ at a stainless steel drink machine. Low-energy LED lights and induction equipment along with recycled packaging show the brand’s emphasis on sustainability – the brand also sources all of its ingredients from its own vertically integrated farms.

With sales up by 35%, the Burger Lab hypothesis has become accepted theory, and is now being rolled out across the company’s 3,000 outlets throughout Asia.