Take a look inside Wendy's upcoming new-look restaurants, with dedicated parking and pick-up shelves for mobile orders and delivery drivers

Wendy's says the new design focuses on convenience, speed, and accuracy. The new restaurants will have "a sleek and modern design with an optimized layout and next-generation technology," the fast-food giant said. The design will be used for new builds, with the first set to open in New Albany, Ohio in spring 2023.

The design costs nearly 10% less to build than its current format and will be cheaper for franchisees to operate, execs said.

The restaurants will have more efficient lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning to decrease energy usage and costs, and its kitchens will be redesigned to optimize labor.

"We do think it will be a super efficient, cost-effective restaurant," CEO Todd Penegor said at a recent earnings call.

The new restaurants will include a dedicated pick-up window and parking for delivery drivers who previously had to collect orders from the dining room.

Delivery orders have surged during the pandemic, and many chains have redesigned their restaurants to increase delivery capacity. Some have opened ghost kitchens – sites that prepare orders only for delivery. Wendy's recently said that it expects to have between 100 and 150 REEF ghost kitchens open by the end of 2025, with the vast majority in Canada and the UK, where Wendy's relaunched its business last year.

"Finally, we're embracing digital in our design," Wendy's CFO said at its earnings call earlier this month.

The new-look restaurants will have dedicated pick-up shelves and parking for mobile-order customers

Wendy's said that US second-quarter digital sales grew 2.5% from the previous quarter and now make up 9% of orders, rising to 10% when overseas markets are also included. It says the growth in the US was driven by an uptick in mobile orders.

As well as dedicated parking and collection points for delivery drivers and mobile-order customers, Wendy's says that new technology will enable the restaurants "to handle significantly more digital business than before."

Wendy's is redesigning its kitchen in a galley-style kitchen design, which will run from the front to the back of the restaurant. It says this makes it easier for crews to switch positions during their shifts and makes it quicker to prepare orders.

CNN reported that the chain will also have new grills, which make cooking quicker.