Designing an Optimal Chair Layout:
The most important part of the chair layout is not the chairs themselves - it is the aisles. If the aisles are not planned properly, your guests will spend a lot of time waiting to get into their seats, delaying the start of the performance. Safety is always important, so the access aisles should also allow your guests to get out of the room quickly.
Row Aisles:
When planning the layout for an audience, it is important to allow enough room between rows of chairs for guests to enter and exit the rows before and after a lecture or performance. The absolute minimum is eighteen inches. Any less than this and you could have major problems with moving the audience in and out of the space in a timely fashion. The amount of chairs in the row should be no more than fifteen. Your guests in the center of the row will then have to walk only ten or twelve feet to get out of the row.
Middle Aisles: Center Aisles, Side Aisles & Lateral Aisles
The other place to pay attention to aisle space is between blocks of chairs. This can depend on where the exit doors are in a building. You want to construct a straight line with the access aisles (between the blocks of chairs) and the exit doors to facilitate traffic flow.
Perimeter Aisles:
If you cannot line the middle aisles up with the exit doors, the perimeter aisles that allow access to the exit doors should be wider than the middle aisles that run between the blocks of chairs. The maximum size aisle here is figured by adding the widths of all the exits together that the particular aisle leads to. The aisle width should not exceed this. This will allow for a constant flow of people out of the room because it will minimize in-room bottlenecks.
Ample space should be left in the front perimeter aisle (where a stage would normally be located). this aisle width can vary from four to twelve feet, depending on the size of your audience, audio/video/lighting placement, decorations, and security requirements.
Figuring out how many chairs you can fit in a room:
The general rule of thumb for standard chair installations is eight square feet per chair. For example, an 800 square foot room (or a 20 x 40 Tent) should fit 100 chairs – this includes aisle spacing. Anything else that needs to be in the room will reduce the chair count, so any stages, audio/video, band, registration tables, or anything that takes up floor space will have to be figured for square footage and then subtracted from the room's total square feet before figuring the amount of seats that will fit.
The rule of thumb assumes chairs will be set up in rectangular blocks that are parallel to the rectangular room. If the chair layout is diagonal to the room's walls, as much as 20% loss of chair capacity can result. So, to maximize room capacity, keep all the chairs going in the same direction as the walls (in a standard rectangular room).
Have a professional figure it out for you. Many rental companies can put together a CAD drawing for you. If you are renting your event equipment, have your rental company visit your site and measure it out. They will then use those measurements to make a drawing on their computer that can be faxed or emailed to you. Most companies provide this service for no charge if you are a client.
Typical rental chairs are 1 ½ feet wide by 1 ½ feet long. A chair row plus a walking aisle between the chair rows should be a minimum of three feet. This will allow a 1 ½ foot walking aisle. Any less than this and it becomes difficult for your guests to move in and out of the rows of seats (especially with other guests seated). Any more than this and the seating in the room will not be maximized – even a one inch increase in the walking aisle will decrease your room's capacity by one or two rows (this is 60 to 120 chairs less in a room with four blocks of chairs that are 15 seats wide each).
Lay out the first row of chairs to the left and right of the center aisle. This will show you where the next aisle string should be placed. Then just measure six feet over from that string and place your second aisle string. You will now have 3 aisles laid out. Continue with this process until you have the entire front of the room laid out. Now there is plenty of work for your crew.
Once you have a drawing to work from and a crew to help, you are ready to start the chair installation. Find the center of the room and measure out a center aisle (a 6 foot aisle is a typical size). If you have a large procession (more than 2 abreast) moving up the center aisle, you may need a wider aisle.Measure from the back leg of the chair in the previous row 3 feet to where the next row will be placed. This measurement is taken at the far left and right of the chair row to be set up. A string is then run the entire length of the chairs and wrapped around a heavy weighted object (such as a brick). The string should be pulled tight and placed at the three-foot measurements taken.Once the row string is in place, the crew can begin placing the chairs in front of the string with the back feet of the chairs almost touching the string. The feet cannot touch the row string or the whole line of chairs will be off. Any time a chair touches any layout string it will be pushed out of alignment, so watch your crew to make sure. When the chairs are placed at the aisles, they should not be over the aisle strings. Once the row is complete along the entire length of string, it is an easy matter to move the weights and string back three feet to be ready for the next row of chairs.HINT: Instead of having to measure each row with a ruler, two pieces of wood can be cut to three feet (one for each person measuring). The wood should be placed against the back foot of the previously completed row. Then the string with weights should be moved just behind the wood to prepare it for the new row.Pull the string tight to make sure it is straight. The person measuring should take care not to move the previously placed chair. Even if the chair were moved only a quarter inch – the row of chairs would be off by an inch after four rows were set up, then two inches after eight rows, and so on...Setting up chairs is not “rocket science”, however, there are procedures that can be used to minimize wasting time. This will benefit you by allowing you to finish setting up when the installation time allotted is small. It will also save money on labor when you are paying a crew to set up chairs.While your crew is setting up, they should keep the chair dolly close to them at all times. This will cut down on unnecessary walking and allow them to set the chairs up faster with less effort.Watch your crew as they work and offer suggestions to minimize unnecessary movements. They will appreciate you making their job easier and you will be building a better crew. After a while, you may be able to delegate one of your responsibilities to a high performing installer, such as laying out the guide strings. They may then become a trainer for new chair installers.Figure on an inexperienced chair installer setting up about 100 chairs per hour (this includes moving dollies around to get them positioned for set-up). If you have to set up 1000 chairs, it will take 10 people one hour (or 5 people 2 hours). The numbers above assume the chairs are in the room at the time of set-up and the crew is run by an experienced supervisor (who also lays out the strings).The less experienced the crew (or supervisor), the more time or installers are needed to complete the chair set-up. Always have more people than you need – it is better to finish early. Having extra crew available will also be extremely helpful when someone calls out sick at the last minute.After working with the same crew for several jobs, you will be better able to better estimate set-up times with them. They should also get faster with experience.Mark Saponaro Email me