Enter your room's rough dimensions and see how many guests fit in every event layout — banquet, cabaret, theatre, classroom, boardroom, U-shape and standing. Unlike a rule-of-thumb calculator, Metis actually lays the furniture out with real service clearances and aisles, shows you the floor plan, and lets you fly through it in 3D. Free, no sign-up.
Planning estimates only. These figures are generated with industry-standard furniture sizes and service clearances, but your legal maximum occupancy is set by fire regulations, exit widths and your licence — always confirm with your local fire authority. Fixed features like pillars, bars and doors in your real room will also change the numbers: draw your actual room in Metis Room Planner to get exact, defensible layouts.
Most venue capacity calculators divide your floor area by a number. This one builds the layout.
Length and width are enough — add a stage or dance floor if you're planning a dinner dance, awards night or wedding.
Real table and chair footprints, 120 cm aisles, service gaps behind every chair, clear doorways and space around the stage — the same layout engine used by professional venues in Metis Room Planner.
Compare seven layout styles side by side, watch the plan redraw live, then take a 3D fly-through of your room — furniture, stage, dance floor and all.
Typical space-per-person planning figures used across the events industry
| Layout style | Space per person | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Standing reception | 0.4–0.6 m² (4–6 sq ft) | Drinks receptions, networking, parties |
| Theatre | 0.5–0.7 m² (5–8 sq ft) | Presentations, ceremonies, product launches |
| Banquet (rounds) | 1.0–1.4 m² (11–15 sq ft) | Weddings, gala dinners, awards nights |
| Cabaret | 1.4–1.8 m² (15–19 sq ft) | Conferences with table work, comedy nights |
| Classroom | 1.4–1.8 m² (15–19 sq ft) | Training, exams, workshops |
| Boardroom | 1.7–2.2 m² (18–24 sq ft) | Meetings up to ~30 people |
| U-shape | 1.8–2.5 m² (19–27 sq ft) | Workshops and trainings with a presenter |
Use these figures for quick sanity checks — but remember they hide the details that decide whether a layout genuinely works: aisle positions, the dance floor, the stage, pillars, and how much room waiting staff need behind chairs. The calculator above accounts for all of them by generating the actual layout.
The industry rule: expect 30–40% of guests dancing at any one time (up to 60–70% for a young party crowd or disco), at roughly 0.5 m² (about 4.5 sq ft) per dancer. So for 150 guests, plan for ~60 dancers and a dance floor of about 30 m² — an 18 × 18 ft floor (5.5 × 5.5 m), or an equivalent rectangle. Tick "Include a dance floor & party lights" in the calculator above and it is sized this way automatically, with the surrounding tables laid out to keep it clear and a moving-head light rig aimed at the floor.
For panel counts, floor styles (LED starlit, chequer, parquet…), setup times and placement advice, see the full dance floor size calculator & guide.
The quick method is floor area ÷ space per person (for example 1.0–1.4 m² per guest for a banquet with round tables). For a dependable answer you need to lay the room out: tables have fixed sizes, chairs need pull-back space, aisles and doorways must stay clear, and stages and dance floors take big bites out of the floor. This calculator generates that layout for you from just your room dimensions.
Typical banquet rounds seat: 4ft (122 cm) — 4–6 guests; 5ft (152 cm) — 6–8; 5ft 6in (168 cm) — 8–10; 6ft (183 cm) — 10–12. The calculator uses correctly sized rounds for your chosen seats-per-table and spaces them with a 50 cm service gap between chair backs.
Allow 0.4–0.6 m² (4–6 sq ft) per standing guest. A 150 m² room comfortably takes around 250–300 for drinks — less once you add bars, cloakrooms or a stage.
Plan for 30–40% of guests dancing at once at about 0.5 m² per dancer. For 100 guests that's a 4.5 × 4.5 m floor (roughly 20 m²). The calculator sizes and places the dance floor automatically when you tick the option.
No. Legal occupancy is set by fire safety regulations — exit count and widths, escape routes and your premises licence — and is often lower than what physically fits. Use these results for event planning, and confirm limits with your local fire authority.
The free calculator uses a simple rectangular room and the layout is view-only. In Metis Room Planner you can draw your actual room — walls, doors, pillars, bars — or import a scan, then drag every table and chair, check fit and sightlines, and export professional plans. There's a 14-day free trial with no credit card.
Draw your real room, drag tables, check capacity and fire clearances, and share stunning 2D & 3D plans with clients — free for 14 days, no credit card.
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