Bench seating is a stylish, space-saving seating solution ideal for restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs. Creating intimate cosy areas for customers to eat and drink provides an element of privacy and allows for great design in a venues interior.
While the term Bench, Booth, Banquette & Fixed Seating is used interchangeably for a particular style of seating in restaurants, this type of seating has a main objective. It generally encompasses straight and curved seating, encouraging a social environment, intimate dining and efficient utilisation of space.
Space Saving Bench Seating
Realising the full potential of the space in a venue is an important element to restaurant interior design. As maximising space is key to maximising profits in many venues, bench seating can be a key space saving option to fully utilise floor area, especially when floor pace is limited.
Banquette and bench seating create cosy intimate booths for guests to eat and drink and provides a degree of privacy. Carefully designed banquette seating creates a focal point within a bar or restaurant interior; and can form a central design around which other contract furniture can be strategically placed.
Bench Seating and Design Aesthetics
A key consideration in restaurant design interiors is the use of various heights with contract furniture. By doing so, it avoids the utilitarian aesthetics of a canteen style interior where all the furniture is the same height. Bench seating allows the designer to introduce these important height differentials.
Creating an intimate ambience for guests to give an element of privacy is more important factor for certain styles of restaurants. High-backed banquette seating can provide this level of intimacy effectively, especially in in bars and restaurants so that your customers can have a private dinner or drink.
Booth Seating for Restaurant Flow
Bench seating can also be used to denote the main direction of foot traffic through the restaurant or bar, to allow waiting staff to move around efficiently and with minimum disruption to service. It can be used to divide a rooms floor area, for example, distinctly separating the restaurant from a bar area or to separate a servery area from the restaurant in large open spaces.
Booth Seating Upholstery & Materials
The right choice of fabrics in any restaurant environment requires careful thought. Choosing the correct upholstery for banquette seating is particularly important as long runs of plain fabric can sometimes look lifeless and uninteresting on the eye. It can be effective to introduce two-toned fabrics, buttoned backs, fluted or piped upholstery to bench seating in order to add texture and interest.
More food and drink is spilt on banquette seating than compared to loose chairs so opting for faux leather upholstery which can be wiped clean easily will extend the life of this type of restaurant seating. Alternatively, if a textile upholstery is preferred, it’s wise to consider patterned upholstery designs for banquette sections.
Take a look at the range of Bench Seating here and talk to the sales team about bespoke options for your venue.
