Anyone who has ever seen a Pizza Hut knows what a Pizza Hut looks like. Worldwide, people recognize that wacky trapezoidal roof, even though new Pizza Huts no longer have them. What happens, though, when a Pizza Hut closes down or moves, but the building remains? What about other global chains with instantly recognizable building formats? These buildings have not-terribly-secret second lives, if you know where to look.

Two amazing sites, Used to be a Pizza Hut and the venerable Not Fooling Anybody, catalog these recognizable buildings.

Notable ex-Pizza Huts include this sex shop in Australia:

This police station in Des Moines, Iowa:

And, the thematically consistent Chinese Hut outside of Toronto:

Chinese Hut is now closed, but the building still stood as of May 2012.

What happens when other chain buildings get re-used? Here’s a great example: a former Taco Bell that became a restaurant serving Philadelphian cuisine in Arizona.

Used to be a Pizza Hut (via Atlantic Cities – thanks, Tennille!)

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