Bench Desking

Why bench desking took over the open plan office

Shared frame desking where several people work from one continuous run. Bench systems dominate larger fit-outs for two unglamorous reasons: they fit more people into the same floor, and they make power distribution dramatically simpler.

The floor space argument

Individual desks each need their own legs and their own clearance. A bench run shares a frame between positions, so the same floor area holds more people without anyone feeling squeezed. In a leased office at commercial rents, that difference pays for the furniture.

It also creates a straight, tidy line across a floor, which is why bench offices photograph well and mixed desk offices rarely do.

The power argument is the stronger one

Wiring twelve individual desks means twelve floor boxes or twelve cable runs. Wiring a twelve person bench run means feeding one frame and distributing along it. The saving on installation is usually larger than people expect, and the result is far tidier.

Our cable management range covers the trays, spines and linking bars designed for these frames.

Plan for the size you will be

Extension kits are the point of a bench system. A four person run that becomes a six person run later should be ordered with that in mind, because matching a finish in two years is harder than buying the kit now.

The Evolve Plus and Impulse Plus ranges both cover two, four and six person configurations.

What bench desking costs you

Privacy and flexibility. People sit closer, and moving one person means moving a section rather than a desk. Desktop and bench screens recover some of the privacy, and are worth specifying at the same time rather than after the first complaint.