--- title: "How the Right Architect Can Make Restaurant Growth Easier" url: https://burnaze.com/article/3273a967-7f15-4d29-a282-adf5ced3249d source: "QSR Magazine" original_url: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sponsored_content/how-the-right-architect-can-make-restaurant-growth-easier/ author: "Davina Van Buren" category: "Restaurants" industry: "Restaurants" topics: ["Operations"] published: 2026-10-26T17:05:45.000Z modified: 2026-10-31T13:15:47.074Z image: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/MTM-QSR-Header-Image.jpg --- # How the Right Architect Can Make Restaurant Growth Easier **TL;DR:** A long-term architecture partner can help restaurant operators avoid costly mistakes as they expand into new markets by providing continuity and understanding of the brand's requirements. James E. Miller II, a franchisee of Subway and Hot Head Burritos, found that working with MTM Architecture reduced errors and improved the development process. *By Davina Van Buren, originally published in QSR Magazine on 2026-10-26. [Read the original](https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sponsored_content/how-the-right-architect-can-make-restaurant-growth-easier/).* ## Story A long-term architecture partner can help operators avoid costly mistakes as they expand into new markets. Opening a restaurant in a new market often means working with local contractors, inspectors, and permitting agencies. But there’s one member of the development team restaurant brands don’t necessarily need to replace every time: the architect. James E. Miller II learned that lesson after more than 50 restaurant projects. A franchisee of both Subway and Hot Head Burritos, Miller once followed a familiar approach, hiring an architect in each local market who presumably knew the area and could guide the project through development. The problem was that each new architect came with a new learning curve. “Every time you start over, you’re teaching someone about your brand and how your kitchen actually works and hoping they get it right,” Miller says. His experience changed after he began working with MTM Architecture, an architecture firm specializing in restaurants. Instead of starting from scratch with each location, Miller had an architectural partner that already understood restaurant operations, brand requirements, and his business. “The difference was day and night,” he says. Continuity is even more valuable as brands add locations. Matthew T. McCord, president and founder of Indianapolis-based MTM Architecture, says working with a brand over time allows his team to build on what they learn from each project rather than starting from scratch every time. That knowledge can help operators spot problems sooner. “We become an extension of the brand,” McCord says. “With every project we finish, we gain more and more knowledge about the brand and its specific operational needs.” On a recent San Diego project, MTM surveyed a potential restaurant site while the client was still negotiating the lease. Within minutes of arriving, the team found that the building did not have enough electrical service to operate the restaurant. Getting the additional service to the space would have required bringing it from another building or running new overhead or underground power lines. Ultimately, the restaurant company walked away from the deal before signing the lease. “We helped them realize that within about five or 10 minutes of being on the site because we know what they need,” McCord says. “We knew right away that one of their big requirements was not present at the site and really wasn’t feasible to get to that site.” That kind of early assessment can prevent operators from committing to spaces that require expensive modifications later. Familiarity with a restaurant concept can also help an architect quickly recognize when a potential space is too small, narrow, or otherwise poorly suited to the way the restaurant needs to operate. Miller says operators can pay a price when that familiarity is missing. “A local architect relearns your business every time, and you pay for that education in delays, mistakes, or reworks,” he says. Working nationally doesn’t eliminate local considerations. Building codes, permitting requirements, and the physical characteristics of individual sites still vary. For Miller, the advantage is having an architect who can apply that local information without losing sight of the brand’s vision—or the individual restaurant itself. Miller says MTM understands the requirements of both brands he operates and pairs them with local codes. That allows each location to meet brand standards while remaining practical for employees and guests. This is especially important as restaurant formats continue to change. Prototypes need enough consistency to be repeatable across markets without becoming so rigid that they cannot accommodate new technology, ordering channels, or different types of real estate. “We used to have two ways to order food, and now there’s 10,” McCord says. “We talk about prototypes and design consistency and ‘repeatable’ and hundreds of stores and all of that, but design also has to be flexible because you never know what’s coming or what’s next.” For restaurant brands planning multiple locations, that makes the architect’s role about more than producing drawings for the next build. Over time, the right partner learns how the concept works, where problems tend to arise, and what needs to stay consistent as the brand enters new spaces and markets. That accumulated knowledge has changed how Miller approaches restaurant development. “From this point forward, I will not use any other architecture firm but MTM,” he says, “no matter what the project is.” MTM Architecture is a national architectural firm, specializing in restaurant design and capable of completing projects for brands across all 50 states. Learn more about MTM Architecture’s deep restaurant expertise by visiting their website. ## Entities - QSR Magazine (publication) - Subway (company) - restaurant expansion (topic) - Operations (sector) - brand consistency (topic) - location development (topic) - Hot Head Burritos (company) - prototype design (topic) - Davina Van Buren (person) - MTM Architecture (company) - James E. Miller II (person) - Matthew T. McCord (person) --- Originally reported by Davina Van Buren, QSR Magazine (https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sponsored_content/how-the-right-architect-can-make-restaurant-growth-easier/). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/3273a967-7f15-4d29-a282-adf5ced3249d).