Bar stools - what are the design standards for spacing? 

To design a bar for economic viability, the question is how much space should be between bar stools.

BAR STOOLS – DESIGN STANDARDS FOR SPACING

In bar design we’re always asking our clients how close they want their bar stools. The average size for a commercial bar stool is 18” x 20”, as shown in this example. The most common mistake I see is when people attempt to place the stools too close together, when featuring 3” side-to-side clearance. By architectural standards, 3” of side clearance will allow less than 5% of male users access without disturbing the adjacent patron. On the opposite side of the bar I’m featuring backless stools placed 12” apart; this will accommodate 95% of the patrons, but the tradeoff is one less stool for every 10’ of bar length. Not many bar owners would opt for this solution, but a good compromise would be 6” of side-clearance as shown with both the backless stool and the first stool. Side-to-side bar stool clearance of 6” is the most popular choice among the majority of our commercial bar design clients. Don’t be fooled by the center-to-center bar stool dimension people often discuss, as the information can be misleading. Use the above bar stool options and your interests will be better-served.

Creating generous side-to-side bar stool clearance and optimizing the number of seats is a balancing act affected by the sizes of the stools themselves. As a general rule, the most expensive bar stools are the largest. Backless bar stools will provide the maximum number of seating opportunities, as shown in our earlier example. Shown here is the model 709-30 Labella bar stool by MTS Seating, a very popular manufacturer of hospitality seating. This stool is 16” x 16” and costs about $100 ea. A larger, more comfortable bar stool is the MTS model 902-30, which is 21” x 23 ½” and costs about $300 ea. Cut sheets for these and other MTS seating are downloadable below.

The takeaway today is to not overcrowd your bar stools. Backless bar stools will help maximize the number of seats and for best results, prudent bar design is to plan for 6” – 12” of side-clearance.

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DOWNLOADS FOR THIS POST:

BAR STOOL CUT SHEETS FOR COMMERCIAL BARS:

MTS 900 SERIES BAR STOOLS CUT SHEET
https://www.dropbox.com/s/di9r98ny20qy3hw/MTS%20900%20Series%20Bar%20Stools%20Cut%20Sheet.pdf?dl=0

MTS 901-30 BAR STOOL CUT SHEET

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hxhdk5ugdo2aafe/MTS%20901-30-K%20Bar%20Stool%20Cut%20Sheet.pdf?dl=0

MTS CLUB SEATING GUIDE
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jwoze197gmfwe86/MTS%20CLUB%20SEATING%20GUIDE.pdf?dl=0

MTS 709-30 LABELLA BACKLESS BAR STOOL CUT SHEET
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ex2q0jdx509ensw/MTS%20Seating%20709-30%20GR6%20Labella%20Bar%20Stool%20Cut%20Sheet.pdf?dl=0