Learning from Taco Bell
Taco Bell is a polarizing force in the world of fast food. By prioritizing the efficiency of its food production it is able to compete with other large brands that focus on taste or customer service. Recently, with the ground breaking of its new test prototype, Taco Bell seeks to double down on rethinking how food is produced and served. It’s new, no dine-in, drive through only locations questions how we consume food as a culture. Inadvertently it also demonstrates a new design paradigm for fast food restaurants in the post-covid world.
New Taco Bell Prototype
Image from Startribune.
Go around / Go under
The traditional drive thru restaurant is set up such that vehicles circumambulate the building. About a third of the building is kitchen space with most of the restaurant being dine-in or front of house space. By lifting the restaurant and eliminating the dine in - the whole building becomes the kitchen which means the production rate is increased. With this increase in production rate the restaurant can simultaneously handle more drive thru lanes which speeds up each transactions, hence more transactions can be had per day.
Primary Function
Not limited to restaurants but can also be:
Post office
DMV Services
Order pickup
Branding
With just a change in material, the most visible parts of the building can adapt to specific branding needs.
Point of Service
With a simple dumb-waiter system, the point of sales/point of service can happen at the ground level. Customers can stay in the safety and comforts of their cars and pick up their food or parcel without having any personal interactions.
Incarnations
Impacts to Retail
No Contact Shopping
With the rise in popularity of no contact shopping due to the effects of the global pandemic of 2020, more and more retailers are converting their precious space into order pickup facilities. Even after the pandemic, shoppers will continue to choose to remote or no contact shopping methods simply due to the convenience. Taco Bell’s architectural solution is perfectly applicable here.
Adaptability
By simply attaching the rebranded Taco Bell’s structure to the existing truck lanes, any big box retailer can instantly have order pick up function.
Renderings
