A six-person bench desk is the size most UK office fit-outs end up ordering at least one of. It’s big enough to seat a whole small team on a single shared frame, small enough to fit in a standard open-plan room, and — at around £140 per workstation in the basic frame — it’s the cheapest way to seat six people on matching furniture.
This guide covers what you actually get for the money, how much floor space a six-person bench takes, which frame and depth to pick, and the add-ons worth specifying before the order goes in.
A six-person bench desk is a single shared frame that supports six worktops, usually arranged back-to-back as two rows of three. Everyone on the bench sits on the same continuous structure rather than at six separate desks pushed together.
In most UK ranges, a “six-person” desk is built as a two-person desk plus two add-on modules — same frame, same finish, more seats. That matters at order time: if you might need to grow to eight or ten in the next year, ask for the extension parts list before you commit, so you know the upgrade path is a bolt-on rather than a re-order.
You’ll also see “bank of 6” used as a synonym. They mean the same thing.
In the LOF Direct range, six-person bench desks start at £842 ex VAT and run up to £1,344 ex VAT depending on frame and depth.
That works out at around £140–£224 per workstation, before screens, pedestals, or cable accessories. The cheapest configuration is a Nova U-Leg steel frame in standard depth; the top of the range is a Nova Wood gable-end frame in the deeper 1640mm size.
For reference, six individual single desks of equivalent size would cost noticeably more once you’ve paid for six separate frames and six sets of legs. The price-per-seat saving is the main reason fit-out buyers default to bench for any team of four or more.
The standard back-to-back six-person bench desk in the UK is built from three 1600mm bays per side. That gives you a unit roughly 4,800mm long by 1,440mm or 1,640mm deep. Each person sits at an 1,600mm × 720mm worktop (or 820mm on the deeper option), which is comfortable for a dual-monitor setup.
For floor planning, you should allow at least 800mm of clearance behind each row of chairs so people can push back from the desk without hitting a wall or another piece of furniture. That puts the total room footprint at roughly 4.8m long by 3.1m deep for a freestanding six-person bench with circulation space on both sides.
If the room is tighter than that, drop to four people on the bench and use the wall for storage, rather than squeezing six seats into a space that doesn’t have aisle clearance — there’s no point seating six if the back row can’t get out.
The two standard depths refer to the unit measured across the desk from front to back, including both worktops on a back-to-back unit.
The price gap is small — typically £48 across the range — so the question is space, not budget.
The same six-person desk comes on two very different frames.
Nova U-Leg (steel). The cheapest workhorse. A welded steel U-frame at each end of the row plus a central support. Cleans easily, takes a knock, and is the standard choice for hot-desking layouts and SME open-plan rooms.
Nova Wood (wooden gable). A solid wood end panel at each end of the row. Softens the look in mixed-use offices, design studios, and customer-facing spaces. Costs around £400 more per six-person unit than the steel equivalent.
Steel is also lighter to move when you reconfigure the office; wood looks better in photographs. Pick on the room, not the spec sheet.
For a wider look at the bench-desking ranges we stock, see our Connex bench desks refresh for 2025 and the Formetiq SYSTM modular range.
Yes — and on a six-person bench you almost certainly should. Six people sitting back-to-back generates enough noise and visual distraction that a screen between the two facing rows pays for itself in concentration time.
Two screen types fit a standard bench:
Specify screens at order time rather than retrofitting. The brackets are easier to fit before the desk is built, and you’ll get a matched finish.
Browse the full range on our screens collection, and add per-seat storage from the pedestals collection at the same time — six-person rows look tidier with one matching pedestal under each seat.
Three decisions, in order:
Add screens, pedestals, and a cable tray on the same order — every option ships flat-packed with the fixings included, and the desk is easier to spec as one unit than in three rounds of follow-up calls.
What size is a six-person bench desk?
A standard back-to-back six-person bench desk is approximately 4,800mm long by 1,440mm or 1,640mm deep, with each person at an 1,600mm-wide worktop.
What depth should I choose, 1440mm or 1640mm?
1440mm suits laptops and single or dual monitors. Choose 1640mm if anyone on the team uses an ultrawide screen or two large displays — the extra 100mm of worktop depth gives more clearance behind the monitor.
How much does a six-person bench desk cost?
Six-person bench desks at LOF Direct start at £842 ex VAT for a Nova U-Leg in standard depth and run up to £1,344 ex VAT for a Nova Wood gable frame in the deeper 1640mm size.
Can I add screens to a six-person bench desk?
Yes. Acoustic dividers mount along the centre between the two facing rows; modesty and side screens mount at row ends or between adjacent seats. Specify screens at order time rather than retrofitting them.
How much floor space does a six-person bench desk need?
Allow roughly 4.8m of length and 800mm of clearance behind each row of chairs — total room footprint about 4.8m by 3.1m.
Ready to size up your team’s row? Shop six-person bench desks →
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