How to choose a workstation

We list 15 workstation ranges, and in a photograph most of them look like the same desk: a pale top on a slim frame in a grey office. Side by side on a listing page there is very little for the eye to go on.

The differences are real, but almost none of them are in the picture. They are in how the desks join together, whether the top rises, what the leg is doing, and what carries the cables — and those four decide the price, the lead time and whether the floor can be rearranged in three years. Work through them in the order below and sixteen ranges become three.

Nothing here is a rule. If a project wants a timber leg and electric height adjustment, say so and we will tell you which ranges do both, or what it costs to get there.

The parts, named

A workstation is a worktop, something holding it up, something carrying the cables and usually something separating one person from the next. Spec sheets assume you know which is which.

1. How the desks sit together

This is the decision the floor plan has usually made for you, and it comes first because it rules ranges in and out: not every range is built to run, and a range that only makes single desks cannot be stretched into a bench for eight.

Single desk8 ranges

One person, standing on its own legs. A private office, a manager, a hot desk at the end of a run. The most expensive way to seat somebody, because nothing is shared.

Back to back8 ranges

Two desks facing, sharing a frame and usually a screen. The building block of almost every open-plan floor, and the cheapest seat per person after a long run.

Run of desks5 ranges

Four, six or eight in a line. The frame carries its own length, so there are fewer legs than desks and the cabling runs the whole way. Densest option, and the hardest to reconfigure later.

Cluster or pod6 ranges

Three or four around a common centre, at 90° or 120°. Fits more people into a square floor plate than a straight bench and gives each of them a corner rather than a neighbour at the elbow.

Corner desk5 ranges

An L, for somebody with two screens, paperwork, or a job that needs a second surface. Also how a run turns a corner in the room.

Wing desk2 ranges

Three places off one frame in a Y. A compact answer where a pod will not fit.

Four-leg heavy duty1 range

A frame rated for weight rather than people — banks of screens, test equipment, heavy stone or glass tops.

Multi-leg custom1 range

Five legs or two linked frames, for U-shaped and crescent operator desks. Drawn to the room rather than ordered from a page.

2. Whether it goes up and down

The biggest number in the budget, and the one a client most often has an opinion about. A range can be offered more than one way, so this narrows ranges less than it narrows the quote.

Electric sit-stand6 ranges

A motor in each leg and a button on the edge. What most briefs now ask for, and the single biggest line in a workstation budget — often more than the top, the screen and the cabling together. Ask whether the brief means every desk or a proportion of them.

Manual adjust1 range

A winder, a pin or a set of positions. Set once when somebody moves in and rarely touched again, which is honest about how most desks are actually used. A fraction of the cost of electric.

Fixed height12 ranges

Does not move, at 720–740 mm. The cheapest, the most robust, and the right answer for a training room, a touchdown bench or a floor that gets reconfigured often.

3. What the leg looks like

The one difference a photograph does show, which is why the Workstations listing is grouped by it. This is the part of the decision you can make by eye, and the part a client will have a view on.

Round & oval legs4 ranges

The softest read on a floor. A round or oval leg takes the hard edge off a run of desks, which is why it is the most asked-for look at the moment.

Square & rectangular legs5 ranges

The straight answer. A square leg sits quietly beside other furniture, suits almost any fit-out, and usually costs less than a shaped one.

Timber legs2 ranges

Warmth on an open floor — a solid timber leg for a workplace that should not read as an office.

Shaped & angled legs2 ranges

A leg with a stance. These read as a designed object rather than a desk frame, and the angle is doing structural work as well as visual.

Panel & screen ends1 range

The structure is in the ends. A panel, screen or cabinet between desks carries the cabling and the acoustics, so nothing has to be bolted on afterwards.

Heavy duty & control room1 range

For loads an ordinary desk cannot take — banks of screens, specialist equipment, and desks that run around the clock.

4. What holds the desks up

The quietest of the four and the one that bites later: it decides how far a run can go, where the cables live, and how much of the floor has to be dismantled to change it.

Desks on their own legs11 ranges

Each desk stands up by itself and bolts to its neighbour. Easiest to buy one at a time, easiest to move later, and the cabling is whatever you add to it.

Bench on a shared rail2 ranges

A rail runs the length of the run and the tops sit on it, so there are fewer legs than desks and nothing in the knee space mid-span. Scales well, moves badly.

Beam system1 range

A structural beam carries both the tops and the cabling, usually enclosed, with access points along it. The tidiest cable run of the four, and the one to pick when power is coming from the ceiling.

Panel or cabinet ends1 range

The screen, panel or storage unit between desks is the structure. It brings its own acoustics and carries the cabling, so nothing is bolted on afterwards — at the cost of being the least reconfigurable.

What is left after the four

• Power and data. Where it comes from — floor box, ceiling drop, wall — decides what the desk needs more than the desk does. Tell us the source and how many outlets per person and we will work out the cables, starters and management. Power & data →
• Screens. Acoustic, PET or upholstered, mounted on the top or on the beam. Height is an acoustic decision, not a privacy one, and it is usually specified late and regretted. Screens & acoustics →
• Storage. A mobile pedestal under the desk, a caddy beside it or a credenza behind it. The one that most changes how much floor the run needs. Storage →
• Lead time. Ours run from four weeks to fourteen depending on where the range is made. It is a filter on the listing, and it is worth applying early rather than falling in love first.
• Certification. If the project is chasing Green Star or has a sustainability requirement, filter for it before you shortlist. What the marks mean →

The words

Desking vs benching

Desking is desks that happen to sit together; benching shares one structure between several people. Benching is cheaper per seat and harder to pull apart later.

Modesty panel

The panel under the front edge of the top. Privacy for the person sitting at it, and often where the power sits.

Cable tray, basket or spine

What carries the leads from the floor or ceiling to each desk. A tray is open, a basket is mesh, a spine is enclosed. "Segregated" means power and data are kept apart, which some clients require.

C-foot and T-foot

The shape of the foot in plan. A C-foot is open at the front so a chair can get closer; a T-foot is symmetrical and suits a desk approached from both sides.

Two- and three-stage column

How many telescoping sections a sit-stand leg has. Three stages give a greater range and a lower minimum height, and cost more.

Duty cycle

How long a motor may run in a given period. It matters for a control room or a shared desk that is adjusted all day, not for one person adjusting twice.

Quick-ship

A limited set of sizes and finishes held in stock. Faster than the range lead time, but you take the finishes offered.