MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Every year, McDonald’s Philippines renovates 70 stores across the country that leave decommissioned furniture in warehouses. Instead of waiting for it to be sold, the quick service restaurant (QSR) welcomed the idea of creative agency Leo Burnett Group to transform old materials into new school furniture that can be donated to public schools nationwide. The project was named Reclassified.
“Each year, around 70 McDonald’s restaurants undergo renovations, resulting in a significant amount of decommissioned yet fully usable materials—such as chairs, tables, steel, wood, and plastic. These materials are repurposed into classroom furniture, enhancing the learning environment for public school students,” said Adi Timbol-Hernandez, Golden Arches Development Corp. (McDonald’s Philippines) Assistant Vice President for Corporate Relations and Impact.
Students Designing for Students
ReClassified continues to grow with new partnerships such as the collaboration with De La Salle University-College of Saint Benilde (CSB) as it encouraged its Interior Design and Industrial Design students through a competition to come up with their own inspired and creative take on sustainable furniture design.
The students based their designs on the available materials from McDonald’s warehouse, and each entry showcased a fresh take on the school furniture that would benefit their fellow students from public schools. Three of the best designs were named and showcased at the “A’kin-Atin x Daong x ReClassified Exhibit” held at Ayala Malls, Manila Bay from November 25-29 in Ayala Malls Manila Bay Ground Floor Activity Center, Paranaque City.
“At McDonald’s, we are more than just a restaurant. Our goal is to provide a safe and welcoming space for people to enjoy feel-good moments. Nothing captures this more than the glow of our Golden Arches, our iconic Golden Arches, which throughout our history all over the world and here in the Philippines, symbolize how McDonald’s illuminates the path to be better and do things better than we used to — whether it’s through the quality and sustainability of our food and supply chain, to the fast and convenient service we provide, to our modern and innovative restaurants, and to providing equitable career opportunities. Another thing that we are especially working on is how we are committing to learning to be better for the environment,” she further explained.
The judges had a difficult time determining the finalists for the competition. The entries were so outstanding that McDonald’s Philippines decided to double the prizes for the winners. The company also deemed it necessary to reward all those who joined the competition for their excellent designs.
“We are really amazed and impressed at how the students came up with brilliant designs,” added Timbol-Hernandez.
The Winners and the Vision Behind Their Designs
The winners of the ReClassified Student Competition are BENILDE’T DIFFERENT (first place), which includes Industrial Design students Ralf Dylan Sales, Ma. Minermila A. Espeleta, Justin Benedict R. Osorio, and Glenn Laurence H. Hernandez; Team ASRA (second place), which is comprised of Industrial Design Students Ali Arricivita, Abby Lim, Pablo Santino So, and Reese Yulo; and 4Town (third place), which is comprised of Interior Design students Patricia Malijan, Amara Averion, Ginelle Poblete, and Chloe Tan.
“We are excited and we are fully supportive of this initiative. Our students always have the eagerness for projects like this wherein we collaborate with industry partners and they can see their products from paper into an actual tangible item. In this case, there is extra motivation because this is also an advocacy project in collaboration with McDonald’s,” said Architect Harvey Vasquez, Dean of the CSB School of Environment and Design.
Sales of Team BENILDE’T DIFFERENT shared that they focused on other areas in the school apart from the classroom in coming up with the McLaboratory. “We thought of the laboratory and how important hands-on learning is to students especially with STEM education,” he said.
Team ASRA kept purpose in mind in coming up with their McShare Chair design.
“Our vision coming into this competition was to be able to reuse as much material from the warehouse and make the furniture serve its purpose,” Arricivita said.
Meanwhile, Malijan from Team 4Town shared that in coming up with their entry, TwisTiers, they thought of a piece that would benefit the whole educational body. “When we saw the mission and the purpose (of the contest), mas na-inspired kami to really give it our best,” she said.
Sustainability and Service to the Community
CSB Interior Design Program Chairperson Katherine Correa shared that the ReClassified student competition was the perfect fit for the service learning aspect of their program.
“This time, it’s the students designing for the students. It’s also our way to show to the community and the students that interior design is not just for the wealthy. Furniture design can elevate the life of the community,” she said.
CSB Industrial Design Program Chairperson Romeo Catap, Jr. underlined that tilts such as the ReClassified contest helps in nurturing students’ empathy.
“It’s beyond skill. That’s one thing Benilde is teaching. They can have the skill and study sustainability, they can be technical on the materials, upcycling, all of those things. But being involved in competitions like this, fuels their empathy and care for people,” he said.
Latest on ReClassified
Since its launch, McDonald’s has distributed 500 chairs to schools in Isabela, Marikina, Cebu, and Sta. Rosa.
- 250 in Isabela province
- 150 in Marikina City
- 50 in Cebu City
- 50 in Sta. Rosa City
This December, ReClassified will be expanding its reach to Mindanao, bringing chairs and school furniture in hard to reach areas.
- 250 in Zamboanga, where specifically 50 is for San Francisco, Agusan del Sur
- In partnership with Kapuso Foundation, we plan to deploy 200 chairs in 2 schools in Zamboanga
By the end of this year, ReClassified will be able to reach 1,500 students-beneficiaries. For more information on the ReClassified Project, visit https://mcdonalds.com.ph/reclassified.
The post McDonald’s ReClassified project highlights DLSU-CSB’s Innovative Sustainable Designs appeared first on adobo Magazine Online.