Planning Furniture for a 30-Seat Office in Pune: A Worked Example
Short answer: A 30-seat office with two cabins, one conference room, a small meeting room, reception and a pantry fits comfortably in about 2,000 sq ft of carpet area. The furniture list comes to 30 workstations, two cabin sets, one 10-seater and one 4-seater table, a reception desk, about 10 to 12 running metres of storage and pantry seating for eight. From approved drawings to handover, plan roughly five to six weeks.
Note: this is an illustrative example put together to show how the planning works. It is not a description of a specific client project. Sizes and timelines are typical planning figures; your floor will have its own constraints.
The brief
Imagine a software services company moving from a co-working space to its own office near Viman Nagar. The requirement:
- 28 team members on workstations, growing to 34 within two years
- 2 cabins for the directors
- 1 conference room for client calls, seating 10
- 1 small room for interviews and one-to-one talks
- Reception with waiting for three
- Pantry with seating for about eight
- Most staff on laptops with a second monitor
- Three-year lease, so the furniture should be movable
- Move-in targeted for a date about nine weeks away
Step 1: Check that it fits
Using the planning range of 60 to 80 sq ft per person for a balanced office, 30 to 34 people need roughly 1,900 to 2,500 sq ft. A 2,000 sq ft floor works if the layout is efficient. The method is explained in how many workstations fit in 1,000 sq ft.
Step 2: Split the floor
| Zone | Approx. area | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Open work area | 950 sq ft | 30 seats now, with space reserved for 4 more |
| Two cabins | 220 sq ft | About 110 sq ft each, glass fronts |
| Conference room | 180 sq ft | About 5.0 x 3.3 m |
| Small meeting room | 70 sq ft | Four seats |
| Reception and waiting | 130 sq ft | Near the entrance |
| Pantry and breakout | 180 sq ft | Away from the work area |
| Storage, printer, server corner | 90 sq ft | Along an inner wall |
| Circulation | 180 sq ft | Main aisle and entrance passage |
| Total | 2,000 sq ft |
Cabins and rooms go along the inner walls with glass fronts, and the open work area takes the window side so that most people get daylight. The reasoning is covered in open-plan versus cabin layouts.
Step 3: Choose the workstations
- Type: double-sided linear workstations
- Desk size: 1,200 x 600 mm, enough for a laptop and a second monitor
- Arrangement: three runs of ten seats (five facing five), each run 6.0 m long and 1.2 m wide
- Partition: desk-mounted screen about 350 mm high, fabric pin-up on both faces
- Storage: one mobile pedestal per seat, plus a locker bank for bags and helmets
- Expansion: floor space and a power feed kept for one more four-seat cluster
With about 1.8 m between runs for chairs and a walkway, three runs fit across a work area roughly 9 m wide. See the linear workstation guide for sizes and spacing.
Step 4: The full furniture list
| Area | Item | Qty |
|---|---|---|
| Work area | Linear workstation seats, 1,200 x 600 mm | 30 |
| Work area | Mobile pedestals | 30 |
| Work area | Locker bank (12 doors) | 1 |
| Cabins | Desk 1,650 x 750 mm with side return | 2 |
| Cabins | Credenza, about 1,800 mm | 2 |
| Conference | Table 3,000 x 1,200 mm with two power boxes | 1 |
| Conference | Low credenza | 1 |
| Meeting room | Round table, about 1,000 mm | 1 |
| Reception | Two-level reception desk, about 1,800 mm | 1 |
| Storage | Full-height cabinets, 900 mm wide | 4 |
| Storage | Low cabinets, 900 mm wide (printer on top) | 3 |
| Pantry | Counter with storage, about 2,400 mm | 1 |
| Pantry | High table for eight | 1 |
Chairs, sofas and loose seating are listed separately. Background for each item is in our guides to manager cabins, conference table sizes, reception desks and storage.
Step 5: Materials and finishes
- Workstation tops: 25 mm pre-laminated board in a matte light grey
- Pedestals and storage: 18 mm pre-laminated board, light oak fronts
- Cabin and conference tables: plywood or HDHMR with a walnut laminate
- Pantry counter: moisture-resistant board
- Accent: the company’s brand colour on the screen fabric and the reception front
Why these choices: see best material for office furniture and colours and finishes.
Step 6: Power and data
- One floor feed at the start of each workstation run
- Central raceway carrying power and data in separate channels
- Two power sockets and one data point per seat; Wi-Fi for laptops
- Under-desk cable trays and a wire manager at every seat
- Floor box under the conference table, feeding two table power boxes
- Power and data under the reception desk for the computer, phone and access-control panel
The electrical drawing is prepared from the furniture layout, not the other way round.
Step 7: The schedule
| Week | Activity |
|---|---|
| 1 | Site measurement, layout options, quote |
| 2 | Layout and finishes approved; order confirmed |
| 3 | Material procurement; electrical work on site follows the layout |
| 3 to 6 | Production in the workshop while flooring, ceiling and painting finish on site |
| 7 | Delivery and installation of workstations and storage |
| 8 | Cabins, conference, reception; snagging and handover |
| 9 | IT setup, cleaning and move-in |
The stages are explained in how long it takes to furnish a new office and what happens on installation day.
What this example shows
- Layout first. The seat count was confirmed on a drawing before any price was discussed.
- Growth was planned. Space and power for four more seats were kept from day one.
- Different boards for different jobs. Money went where the wear is.
- Furniture and services were coordinated. No floor box had to be moved.
- Production overlapped with site work. That is what made a nine-week move-in realistic.
- Everything can be dismantled. Important for a three-year lease.
Want a plan like this for your office?
Send us your floor plan, headcount and move-in date. We will prepare a layout and furniture list for your space from our workshop in Dhanori, Pune. See the office furniture range.
Frequently asked questions
How much space is needed for a 30-seat office?
About 1,800 to 2,400 sq ft of carpet area for a balanced layout with cabins, a conference room, reception and a pantry.
What furniture does a 30-seat office need?
Around 30 workstations with pedestals or lockers, cabin furniture, a conference table, a small meeting table, a reception desk, team and archive storage, and pantry furniture.
How long does it take to furnish a 30-seat office?
Typically about five to six weeks from approved drawings to handover, with production running alongside the interior work.
Talk to Encore Interiors
Encore Interiors designs, manufactures and installs office furniture from its own workshop in Dhanori, Pune.
Address: Survey No. 19, 3/1, near Shard Lawns, Madhav Nagar, Dhanori, Pune, Maharashtra 411015
Phone: +91 89799 31695, +91 75076 17409
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