Canteen Table Size Guide

Why size matters when investing in new canteen furniture.

Having the space for a dedicated canteen, dining room or breakout area is a real luxury for commercial companies and educational or public institutions in these days of sky-high property prices, so it’s crucial to make sure no space is wasted when designing the room.

Canteens require specialist furniture.

Canteens and dining spaces are high-traffic areas with high standards of cleanliness, so they demand specialist, contract grade furniture that often has to fit the seemingly opposing briefs of being both easy to move for deep cleaning and robust enough to withstand hot food, drinks and staining.

What is Contract or Commercial grade furniture?

Contract-grade or contract standard furniture is furniture that is specially designed and built for commercial use. Unlike domestic furnishings, contract pieces must withstand continuous daily use by larger groups of people and be sized accordingly. It may also need to adhere to different safety regulations.

Why should I use an expert contract furniture supplier?

Canteen tables, chairs and benches will be subject to much harsher conditions than office furniture and consequently, they are designed and supplied by specialists. Contract furniture suppliers will also be able to offer useful advice on space planning, materials and installation.

Importance of Space Planning:

Discuss the importance of measuring and maximising the use of the available space in your canteen, dining or break out area with other members of staff to insure you achieve the best space planning results. The size of the canteen table dimensions will be determined by the size of your dining area.

Canteen Table Size

The canteen table size per person depends on if adults or school children are using the canteen table.

Adults:
The table size for adults or teachers is based on each adult having a space of 60-80 cm. For example, the canteen table dimensions to seat 6 adults should be at least 180 cm and up to 240 cm in length.

Children:
School canteen dimensions can be slightly smaller depending if the tables that will be used in primary, secondary or college environments. The standard size of a school canteen is 160 to 180 cm in length. The standard size of school canteen size per person for a child is 60 cm.

Sustainability Considerations:

There are sustainability considerations that should be taken into account when choosing commercial canteen furniture, such as environmentally friendly materials and energy-efficient design. The best furniture to consider is made from materials like wood and different types of metal. These can be easily recycled and the raw materials can be reused.

Different Types of Furniture:

There are many types of canteen furniture including long tables, soft seating and round style tables and chairs. Here is a list of the possible options:

• Round table and chairs
  This type of seating is suitable for 2 to 6 people. If the table is any larger they take up to much room and are expensive.
• Long tables and chairs
  If you need to seat large groups of people of up to 12 the long table is the most cost efficient way to seat this amount of canteen users. Chairs can be used for comfort or benches to make cleaning a bit easier.
• High tables and stools
  This is a popular option for canteens when the table needs to be against a wall or window. The employee or student can then work or study alone in comfort when they are eating.
• Modular soft seating
  If you are considering resigning your canteen space and need soft seating this is the best option. It allows you to split the sofa units apart and join them together in different configurations whenever you need to.

What size canteen tables do I need?

This depends on the type of tables you choose. Does your room layout work better with traditional long dining tables and benches or do you need more flexible seating like round dining tables, or even high tables and bar stools?

A useful approximate guide to commercial dining table and canteen table sizes would be as follows:

Rectangular canteen tables:

• Seats up to six people | 180 cm table
• Seats up to eight people | 230 cm table
• Seats up to ten people | 285 cm table

Round dining tables:

• Seats up to four people | 120 cm dia table
• Seats up to six people | 140 cm dia table
• Seats up to ten people | 180 cm dia table

What are the best materials for canteen tables and chairs?

1. Commercial-grade laminates.
   Similar to the laminate we know and love in our home kitchens but made to commercial canteen furniture specifications so it’s tougher. Modern contract laminates are resistant to heat and stains and come in hundreds of attractive colours.
2. Solid wood and hardwoods.
   Especially suited to outdoor canteen tables and picnic benches, solid hardwoods are combined with steel frames and legs to create attractive and robust furniture that can be treated to withstand rain and UV light or even designed to ‘weather’ beautifully.
3. Contract standard upholstery.
   Commercial fabrics are designed to be easy to clean and extremely hard-wearing. For a little more comfort than wooden or metal benches; modular soft seating, dining chairs and benches can be covered in colourful fabric, leather or wipe-clean vinyl.