What Size Boardroom Table Do You Need?

When designing your office space, you cannot forget about your boardroom furniture. Your boardroom (otherwise known as the conference or meeting room) is where you will likely host meetings with your team and with clients or visitors. This is a space that needs to have the right furniture to host your team, as well as the right functionality to suit your business.

Why are conference room tables important?

 

Your boardroom table is usually the focal point of any boardroom. This tends to be a large table that can comfortably fit your team. It’s really important to make sure your conference room table is the right size so that it can meet your functional requirements.

Most likely, key decisions for your business are undertaken in this room, so make sure you have enough room for everyone to sit around the table! You’ll need enough space to collaborate, move around the room easily, use a whiteboard, or even present to the room.

But how big does your conference room table have to be? And how can you know when buying that you’ve found the right table before it arrives? We’ve put together a handy boardroom table size calculator for this reason.

The Boardroom Table Calculator

 

Materials you’ll need:

  • Pen and pencil
  • Paper
  • A retractable measuring tape

Meeting room table size calculations

 

Calculating the size of boardroom or conference room tables is actually quite straightforward. With a few simple measurements and our quick reference guide, you should be able to work out how many people you will be able to seat comfortably.

1.      Measure the dimensions of your room

 

Make a note of these for later.

If your boardroom is an unusual shape, or if you’re not sure how best to do this, then it may be best to seek help from an office space planning expert. And at BT Office Furniture, that’s exactly what we do! We offer 2D and 3D office design and planning services. Simply send over your design ideas and we’ll put together a plan!

Diagram of a how a meeting room table should be sized

2.      Measure the distance you need around the table

 

Ideally, your boardroom table should have a minimum amount of clearance (space around the table to move). This can be calculated as follows:

  • If your room is under 5 metres, allow 1.2 metres clearance
    If your room is under 6.7 metres, allow 1.5 metres clearance
    If your room is above 6.7 metres, allow 1.8 metres clearance

So here’s a working example:

 

  • Your Room Length = 4.8 metres
    Your Room Width = 3.6 metres

Because your room is under 5 metres, you should allow 1.2 metres clearance (see point 2 above).

So the calculation is as follows:

 

Table Length: 4.8 – 2.4 (2 x clearance) = 2.4 metres
Table Width: 3.6 – 2.4 (2 x clearance) – 1.2 metres

Team capacity calculations

 

Now you know the conference table size you need, you can calculate the amount of people this will seat.

This will be determined by your chair choice as well as table size, but our general rule of thumb is to allow 70cm – 90cm per person. 70cm may be a little on the tight side, but can work if your space is limited and you need to seat as many as possible.

For this example, we’ll use the more comfortable allowance of 90cm per person and a table that is 2.4m x 1.2m:

Blue square diagram showing arrows along width labelled ‘2.4 meters’ and length labelled ‘1.2 meters’

First you’ll need to calculate the perimeter of your table:

  • 4 + 2.4 + 1.2 + 1.2 = 7.2 metres

Divide this number by the comfort allowance we mentioned (90cm per person):

  • 2 metres / 0.90 metres = 8

Meeting room tables of this size will therefore comfortably seat 8 people. However, this could potentially seat 10 if you only allow 70cm between each person.

Now that you have your measurements, you can being your search for your ideal boardroom table. There are endless colours, shapes and materials available out there, so you’ll be no less than spoilt for choice!

Why not take a look at our range of practical and stylish meeting room tables and desks for offices? Or, if you’re looking for something more specific, contact us today. Our office space planning service is designed to take the stress off your shoulders. We’ll help you create a space that’s both fit for purpose and fits your company well. For more information, call us on 0800 298 7033

Not sure how to find the right size meeting room furniture for you? Consult our office furniture measurement guide if you need any additional information.