Fast food, but not fast architecture.

When Paul Facella began working at a McDonald's on Long Island at the age of 16, he thought of it as just a job. Now, however, at the age of 43, Facella is McDonald's New York Region vice president and has found a rewarding career with the organization.

As McDonald's enters its third decade in Manhattan, Facella noted that the restaurant chain has created 45 stores of innovative architectural diversity reflecting the styles, tastes and customs of the neighborhoods they serve.

"Regionally, we have doubled growth in new restaurants since last year," Facella said. "It's exciting, intriguing, and we're moving into a lot of new venues, such as smaller sites and satellite restaurants."

In 1993, Facella said, McDonald's opened six new restaurants in Manhattan, but this year at least 15 new ones are scheduled to open by the end of the year.

"We are not looking for rave reviews from the international architectural press, we need to make a hit with our customers," said Facella, who became McDonald's New York regional vice president in 1988. "Part of the secret of our success in Manhattan is that our restaurants have to reflect the taste of our customers in the adjacent neighborhoods."

Recently, McDonald's gutted its first Manhattan restaurant, which opened in 1972, on 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd., and redesigned it to reflect and celebrate the African-American heritage of the surrounding Harlem community.

Facella said the same pattern has been repeated through out McDonald's, with respective restaurants adapting to the needs and styles of the neighborhoods they serve.

"We take nothing for granted when we look at a site," Facella said. "After we identify a location as. a strong contender, we begin with an outreach to the community, and, if appropriate, a discussion with the community board. As our process gets underway, we often seek out the local historians to get better institutional understanding of the community so that our architectural theme is appropriate."

"We not only look at overall design," Facella continued, "but what kind of artwork would compliment the community and whether local artists can contribute to that effort."

On West 57th Street, for instance, Facella observed that shoppers from nearby Fifth Avenue can enjoy their food in an upscale environment with dazzling blue and color matched glazed tile.

Erwin Kruger, who owns the McDonald's on West 57th and another one near Herald Square, emphasized the importance of the architectural strategy employed at both restaurants.

"It doesn't matter if your customers are buying retail, wholesale or sidewalk," Kruger said, "this is a very sophisticated clientele and the dining environment has to acknowledge their taste and expectations."

At the McDonald's on Canal Street, Facella said, false window facades and rehabilitated brick enhance the turn of the century architecture of surrounding buildings, while the interior design reflects the considerable Asian community living and working in the neighborhood.

Facella, who joined McDonald's operations and development team in 1974, pointed out that McDonald's West 160 Broadway restaurant, serving the world's financial community adjacent to the Battery in lower Manhattan, is a prime example of McDonald's blending in with the tastes of the customers it serves. With a design that includes marble and rich wood, Facella said, there is a Wall Street stock ticker that plays counter point to a live player piano entertaining from above the vestibule during breakfast and lunch.

"One of the unique things we stress is certainly blending in with the community we serve," said Facella. "We can adapt, we have a good reputation and we're community minded, we give back to the community."

Facella, who is chairman of the New York Urban League, said that McDonald's currently employs some 3,500 crew people at restaurants in Manhattan, a figure that will grow in the near future.

"Our real estate development division has the best people in the business," said Facella, adding that professional attention to detail is employed from how to duct kitchen exhaust fans away from neighboring apartments to policing the streets for any debris in the blocks surrounding a McDonald's site.

"As we enter our third decade in Manhattan, I think we still have enormous opportunities here and we intend to continue to be aggressive to identify and acquire sites."

Randy Young, McDonald's regional development site manager in New York, said that in:terms of construction and development, the Manhattan market was still open with opportunity.

"In terms of real estate density and stores per capita, New York is below the national average," Young said. He noted that nationwide, there are four McDonald's per 100,000 people, while in New York, there are currently only two McDonald's per 100,000 people.

Facella added that McDonald's was also planning to open smaller restaurants in non-traditional areas such as hospitals and colleges, noting that McDonald's recently opened a restaurant at LaGuardia Airport.

"We're trying different venues, we try to go where the people are," Facella said. "By putting in smaller ones, there is a tremendous amount of activity in New York. There is no other market as demanding as New York, and to be successful comes a list of very specific ingredients, ranging from the value and quality of our food, to the professionalism of our employees, to how we best fit in with the communities we serve. In Manhattan, a serious part of that equation is the style of our restaurant architecture."