Auditorium & theatre seating

Auditorium seating belongs to the building rather than the furniture budget. It is fixed to the floor or the riser, it sets how many people the room can legally hold, and it has to pass the fire tests required of a public venue. That is why auditorium seating is specified on three facts before any finish is chosen: how cover and foam behave together in a fire test, how many cycles the tip-up seat has been tested to, and how rows and gangways work for evacuation.

The range covers fixed seating for university lecture theatres, school assembly halls, arts centres and conference venues, with or without writing tablets, on flat floors or tiered risers. It is a different product from meeting room chairs, which move around, and from classroom furniture, which is built for daily writing.

Send us the plan, a section through the room and the seat count, and we will help you turn them into a specification your estates team can take to tender.

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FAQ

What fire standard should theatre seating meet in the UK?

For public venues the usual benchmark is BS 5852 at ignition source Crib 5, tested on the actual combination of cover and filling that will be installed, normally with combustion-modified high-resilience (CMHR) foam. A certificate for the fabric alone proves very little. Ask us for the manufacturer's test report naming the model, the cover and the foam, and check it against the fire strategy agreed between your fire engineer and building control.

What does the EN 12727 use level mean for auditorium chairs?

EN 12727 tests fixed seating for public spaces at four levels, from 1 to 4, with increasingly demanding load and fatigue tests. A lecture theatre timetabled every weekday, or a venue with a full programme, should ask for the highest level available for the model and get it stated in writing. EN 13200-4, the standard for spectator facilities, refers to it, so quoting both in the specification keeps out seating designed for occasional use.

Does the seating change the acoustics of a hall when it is empty?

Yes, and it matters most where music or unamplified speech is heard. An occupied seat absorbs sound while an empty, hard one reflects it, so the room sounds different at rehearsal and at the performance. Seats upholstered on the back and under the tip-up pan keep that gap small. Ask us for the manufacturer's absorption data for occupied and unoccupied seats, and pass it to your acoustician before finishes are fixed.

What do you need from us to quote auditorium seating?

Three things make a quote meaningful: a dimensioned plan with a section through the rake or risers, the target seat count, and the requirements of your fire strategy and accessibility brief. With those we can check how many rows fit, where the wheelchair spaces sit and which fixing suits the floor. For a refurbishment, photographs of the existing hall help, especially while the old seating is still in place.

How to put together an auditorium seating brief

Four steps to a brief that suppliers can price on the same basis, from the survey of the room to finishes, acoustics and seat numbering.

Survey the room

Start from a measured survey: plan, section through the rake or risers, riser heights, exits and the stage edge. These dimensions decide whether seats are floor-fixed or riser-fixed and how many rows the room can take. In an existing hall, note the floor build-up and any services running beneath the rows.

Seats, rows and gangways

Set the capacity you need and test it on a layout with your fire engineer: seats per row, gangway widths and exit routes follow the agreed fire strategy. Mark the wheelchair spaces and companion seats early, because they change row lengths and where the gangways fall.

Fire and durability requirements

Write BS 5852 Crib 5 on the full cover and foam assembly, and the EN 12727 use level, into the specification. Ask for test reports with the tender, naming the model offered, so that bids can be compared like for like and building control receives complete evidence.

Finishes, acoustics and numbering

Only now choose covers, colours, armrest and back finishes, together with row and seat numbering. For halls used for music or speech, share the occupied and unoccupied absorption data with your acoustician, and agree the numbering with the box office plan before production starts.