THE KAN SYSTEMS JOURNAL / Workplaces
Conference table buying guide: seating, power and room fit
A good conference table starts with the meeting, then the room. Before choosing a finish or a seat count, decide who will use it, what they need to see and where their equipment will go.
Use this conference table buying guide to prepare a brief that your furniture, IT and site teams can work from together.
1. Define the meetings you actually hold
List the usual attendance, the busiest realistic meeting and whether visitors join. Separate quick team discussions from long presentations, interviews and video calls. A small discussion table and a formal boardroom table solve different problems.
Record the equipment each person brings. A laptop, notebook and shared documents need space on the surface; a number printed against a table model does not tell you whether your working setup will fit.
2. Check the whole room, not just the tabletop
Measure the room and mark doors, windows, columns, storage and the presentation wall on a plan. Add the chairs at their actual dimensions, including the space they occupy when pulled out. Check how people reach their seats and whether doors and cabinets can open.
Ask for a scaled layout using the proposed table and chairs. Where possible, mark the outline on site and walk through the arrangement before approval. Also confirm the delivery route: a table that suits the room still has to pass through the building’s access points, or arrive in a suitable assembly format.
3. Choose the shape around sightlines
Rectangular tables can suit an orderly meeting layout; round or softly rounded forms may suit smaller discussions. For presentations, check the view of the screen from each proposed chair. For video meetings, check the camera position and whether people can see one another without leaning around a monitor.
Herman Miller’s OE1 Huddle Table is one example of a table planned for sharing ideas with a display. The useful lesson is to specify the furniture and meeting technology as a combined setting.
4. Coordinate power and cables early
List the connections required: charging, laptops, presentation equipment or other agreed devices. Identify where building power and data enter the room, then discuss tabletop access and the cable route below.
Ask your supplier to show where access boxes, cable trays and supports sit. Confirm that knees and chairs will not compete with them. Your electrical and IT teams should approve the connection requirements and carry out the relevant installation; furniture access points alone do not complete the electrical system.
5. Try the chair and table together
Check the proposed chair’s armrests, height range and movement against the table edge and base. Sit at a sample setting if available. Look for comfortable working reach and usable space between the supports, rather than judging the arrangement from a photograph alone.
Ask how the finish should be cleaned and maintained. Compare material specifications, edge details and samples under the room’s lighting before approving the appearance.
6. Put the complete setting in the quotation
Record table dimensions, quantity, surface and base specification, chairs, power-access fittings, cable management, delivery and installation scope. State which items or services are supplied by others. Read our office furniture quotation guide to make proposals easier to compare.
A measured room plan, typical attendance, the proposed chair and a list of meeting equipment. Together they provide a much stronger starting point than a seat count alone.
Explore Kan Systems conference tables and our wider Office Furniture range. We manufacture in Meerut and serve projects across India. Share your room plan and requirements for a project-specific proposal.
Herman Miller: OE1 Huddle Table. Reviewed 6 October 2026. Reference for planning inspiration; the featured project photograph belongs to the Kan Systems project collection.
