Of all the furniture questions we get from Indian offices — Mumbai towers, Bengaluru campuses, Gurugram fit-outs — the conference table generates the most, and the most practical ones. So, as we did with importing, let's answer them the way they arrive: as questions, in the order buyers actually ask them, with the numbers the brochures leave out.
How many people does a conference table really seat?
Take the usable edge of the table and divide by the space one person needs: sixty centimetres as a strict minimum, seventy to eighty for meetings where people work rather than merely attend. That division — not the catalogue photo — is the true capacity. A three-metre rectangular table, by this honest arithmetic, is a comfortable eight, not the ten the render suggests. Indian meetings tend to be well attended; err toward the generous figure, because the eleventh chair always appears.
What size room does the table need?
Work backwards from the room, never forwards from the table. Chairs need to slide out and people need to pass behind seated colleagues: keep roughly a metre between table edge and walls or storage, more on the door side. Subtract that ring of circulation from the room's dimensions and the remainder is the largest table the room can honestly hold. Campus meeting rooms with glass walls deserve one extra thought — sliding a chair into glass sounds worse than it damages, but it sounds very bad indeed.
Which shape works best — rectangular, round or boat?
Rectangular seats the most people per metre and gives the meeting a head — which suits hierarchical reviews and client presentations. Round equalises everyone and suits smaller collaborative rooms, but consumes more area per person. Boat-shaped tops — wider in the middle — improve sightlines along the length, which has become the decisive argument now that one end of most tables is a screen. Match the shape to the meetings the room actually hosts, not to the largest room in the render.
What about video calls and cabling?
Plan the screen end first: the camera effectively takes a seat, and every chair needs a natural sightline to it. Then plan power — through the tabletop, not trailing across the floor. In new Indian fit-outs the electrical points are decided early; getting the table's cable access aligned with the floor boxes at design stage costs nothing, while retrofitting costs a core drill through finished flooring. If your fit-out has an MEP consultant, introduce them to the table drawing before anyone signs either.
Will a large Italian table survive the journey and the service lift?
Yes — because the good ones are engineered for it. Large tops from serious Italian manufacturers ship in sections with engineered joins, crated for ocean transit, and assemble on site into a single, continuous surface. What needs checking is the route: service lift dimensions, corridor turns, door widths — measured before ordering, not discovered on delivery morning. Ask for the manufacturer's declared dimensions, seat counts and assembly documentation with the quotation; at La Mercanti we attach what the manufacturers declare and document, and what they have not declared, we do not promise. Both countries measure in metric, so the drawings translate without a single conversion.
One more question worth asking early: what sits under the table? Chairs decide half the comfort of a meeting room, and their footprint — especially with castors and armrests — changes the circulation arithmetic above. Choose table and chairs as one decision, on one drawing, and the room will thank you for years.
Quick answers
What is the per-person rule for conference tables? Sixty centimetres of table edge minimum, seventy to eighty for working comfort. Divide the usable edge by that figure for the honest seat count — usually two below the catalogue claim.
How much circulation space does the room need? About a metre from table edge to walls or cabinets, more on the door side. Subtract it from the room first; what remains sizes the table.
Can large tables reach upper floors of Indian towers? Large tops ship in sections and assemble in place — that is standard engineering, not a compromise. Measure the service lift and corridors before ordering and share them with the supplier.
Should the screen change the table I choose? Yes: the screen end is the modern head of the table. Tapered and boat shapes improve sightlines, and top-access cabling beats floor cables in every fit-out. Plan screen, then table, then seats.