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.
Quick planning ranges for typical function-room sizes, in metres, feet, m² and square feet — then enter your exact size in the calculator above for a real laid-out plan.
| Room size | Floor area | Banquet (rounds) | Cabaret | Theatre | Standing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 × 6 m (26 × 20 ft) | 48 m² (520 sq ft) | 35–45 | 25–35 | 70–95 | 80–120 |
| 10 × 8 m (33 × 26 ft) | 80 m² (860 sq ft) | 55–80 | 45–55 | 115–160 | 130–200 |
| 12 × 9 m (39 × 30 ft) | 108 m² (1,160 sq ft) | 75–105 | 60–75 | 155–215 | 180–270 |
| 15 × 10 m (49 × 33 ft) | 150 m² (1,600 sq ft) | 105–150 | 85–105 | 215–300 | 250–375 |
| 18 × 12 m (59 × 39 ft) | 216 m² (2,300 sq ft) | 155–215 | 120–155 | 310–430 | 360–540 |
| 20 × 15 m (66 × 49 ft) | 300 m² (3,200 sq ft) | 215–300 | 165–215 | 430–600 | 500–750 |
| 25 × 18 m (82 × 59 ft) | 450 m² (4,800 sq ft) | 320–450 | 250–320 | 640–900 | 750–1,100 |
| 30 × 20 m (98 × 66 ft) | 600 m² (6,500 sq ft) | 430–600 | 330–430 | 860–1,200 | 1,000–1,500 |
Ranges use the industry space-per-person figures above, before deductions for a stage, dance floor, bars, pillars or awkward room shapes — which is exactly why the generated layout usually lands mid-range. A room that is long and narrow seats fewer than a square room of the same area, because aisles eat proportionally more of it.
For a drinks reception or networking event, allow 0.4–0.6 m² (4–6 sq ft) per standing guest — comfortable circulation with drinks in hand. In metres: a 15 × 10 m room (150 m²) takes roughly 250–375 standing before you add bars, cloakrooms or a stage.
For a standing concert or general-admission audience area, event-safety guidance commonly plans at densities up to around 2 people per m² — but the real limit is almost never the floor area. It is exits, escape routes, sightlines, barriers and your licence. Treat any area-based number as a starting point and confirm the audience capacity with your crowd-safety advisor and licensing authority.
For outdoor space: one acre is about 4,050 m² (half an acre ≈ 2,020 m²), before deducting stages, tracking, concessions and emergency lanes. Again — for public events the licensed capacity is set by the safety case, not the grass.
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.
Seated at round tables: 100–140 m² (1,100–1,500 sq ft), e.g. a 12 × 9 m room. Theatre style: 50–70 m². Standing reception: 40–60 m². Add roughly 20 m² for a dance floor and 15–30 m² for a stage if you're having them.
Plan on 200–280 m² for the seating alone (1.0–1.4 m² per guest), so with a dance floor, stage and bar a hall of around 280–350 m² — for example 24 × 12 m or 20 × 15 m — is a comfortable target. Enter the hall's real dimensions in the calculator to see the actual table plan.
An 8 × 8 m (26 × 26 ft) room is 64 m², which theatre-style seats roughly 90–110 with a centre aisle and clear doorways. Chair rows are typically 45–50 cm wide per seat with about 90 cm row-to-row spacing. Run 8 × 8 through the calculator above for the exact laid-out plan.
Forty 5ft 6in rounds at 8–10 guests each seats 320–400. At banquet density that needs roughly 400–560 m² of floor — a hall in the region of 28 × 16 m or larger once you add a dance floor and top table. That's a genuinely large wedding hall; most single-room venues run 15–25 tables.
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.
Use the generated plan above for the number, then check the assumptions behind the setup.
Reference ranges for common room sizes and all seven layouts.
See why theatre, banquet and cabaret produce very different capacities.
Compare round-table diameters, seating and practical service space.
Plan dining, dancing, entertainment, bar and circulation together.
Measure occupied chairs, pull-back, service routes and main aisles.
Find calculators and guides for meetings, weddings and event space.
Draw your real room, drag tables, check capacity and fire clearances, build the seating chart, and share stunning 2D & 3D plans with clients — free for 14 days, no credit card.
Start Your Free Trial