I spend most of my lunch times in the CBD of Melbourne, Australia. It is a large city, with a vibrant CBD. The number of options for lunch is extraordinary. And yet for all the people who eat in restaurants and cafes, or walk and fetch lunch to eaten at work or in a park… there are many more who would like to be more economical with their lunch hour and have food delivered.

For example, there are some eating establishments I would love to frequent, but by the time I get there and wait for the food to be cooked, I don’t have time to eat at an enjoyable pace. And that’s on my own – there’s certainly not the time for sitting down with friends or colleagues. Often this means that people settle for what it the closest and most convenient option.

This all changes with delivery drones.

When combined with internal delivery drones in office buildings, virtually any location will be deliverable. Your office desk or lunchroom, a park or plaza, or even a new type of food court that lacks businesses*. A drone can rendezvous with you at a set location – you don’t need to actually be there when you order.

The key to all of this is price. Currently it is too expensive for most people to pay for a human to deliver their food. But imagine if a solar-powered drone can do it for $1.

*The New Food Court

Plazas and squares are inefficient, due to their single-storey nature. While the high-rise office building alongside them can house thousands of people, the plaza is limited to a hundred or usually much less. I’m speaking purely of sitting down and chatting, smoking or eating.

I suggest that half a plaza (determined by the least shadows) be built on. The structure would be 3 or 4 storeys, with each storey having plenty of height – perhaps 4 or 5 meters.

The external walls would be mostly wall-less. Just subtle safety fences, and screens for when the wind or rain is coming in too strong. Light would be supplied from the roof via light tubes.  The ceilings could be painted or even use a digital display to reflect the actual sky above.

Each floor could be themed – one for smokers, one for eating, a quiet zone… The decor could be part shop – each piece of furniture and art could be also be available for purchase (but not to buy there and then). Decor could change monthly.

And of course the top floor would mimic the plaza space it replaced. So nothing is lost from the original, except for a quick elevator journey would be needed. It could even be a good situation for trialling new elevator concepts.

It might sound expensive, but a plaza is already extremely expensive, relative to the use it gets.

And with drones making deliveries, it would truly be a food court where no cooking occurs.