Seating · HUB · REV 2026-10-06
Seating
Sitting comfort and exit width are different numbers. A tip-up widens the way when the occupant stands, and the open-pan width does not enter the circulation sum. A fire class does not transfer from a fabric colour.
What this gate is
The gate separates the theatre seat, the lecture seat, and the stadium seat. The first is usually a tip-up judged by shoulder, knee, and sightline. The second adds a writing tablet, longer sitting, and a speech target. The third meets sun or rain, riser fixing, and vandal resistance. It is not a theatre chair moved onto a stand.
Any centre or row-pitch figure here, if one appears at all, is a discussion range. The legal limit is the code adopted for the project. Fire performance comes from the test report of that exact build: fabric, foam, and shell. Change the fabric and the report changes.
What is published now
Theatre seats
Tip-up, centres, row spacing, comfort versus egress width, numbering, and accessible seats.
Auditorium seats
Lecture use, writing tablets, long duration, speech sightlines, and the difference from a cinema recliner.
Stadium seats
UV, rain drainage, row lettering, riser mounting, and vandal resistance.
What is not copied from the gate
No fire class, no legal aisle width, and no claim of conformity to an EN standard the project has not adopted.
When to open this gate
When the seat count is frozen
The count is the result of centre, row pitch, and aisle width, not of dividing floor area by a hypothetical seat.
When the sitting type changes
Spoken theatre is not a lecture with a tablet and not an open stand. One model misses all three.
Before the fabric is ordered
Colour is a late decision. The fire report names the build-up. Substitution after the test restarts the question.
How to read the subject
- 01
Measure the clear width egress uses: seats tipped, or as the code requires, not the catalogue width with the pan open.
- 02
Tie centre to shoulder room and row pitch to knee and passing, then compare the result with the code limit. Do not start from the limit alone.
- 03
Distribute accessible seats with companions and sightlines. Do not put a single row at the back because the drawing is easier.
- 04
Match numbering to the ticketing plan: house-left direction, row letters, and the accessible place. Two opposite systems misdirect the audience.
What this gate does not do
Counting seats from area
The aisle, the platform, and the accessible seat consume width that a simple division does not show.
Copying a fire class from a page
The class is in the test report of the specified build-up. This gate carries no certificate.
A theatre chair on an open stand
Fabric, foam, and a tip-up mechanism are not the assumption for a seat in sun, rain, and standing load.
Questions designers and owners ask
Is the seat width the aisle width?
No. Exit width is a clear gap under the code, often between tipped seats. Open-pan width is a comfort figure.
Can the fabric be changed later?
Visually, yes. For fire, the tested build-up has changed. The new report is the reference, not the old one.
What separates a lecture seat from a cinema recliner?
The writing tablet, longer sitting, row depth, and seats per square metre. A recliner consumes the pitch a lecture hall needs.
Is EN conformity stated here?
No. If a spectator-seating standard is adopted, conformity is a project declaration against that edition, not a sentence on this gate.
Where do I count seats?
The seating calculator is a first guess of centres and rows. The local code and the sightline drawing fix the result.
Technical sources
- Adopted local code
Exit width, exit count, and accessible seats. This gate does not replace it and does not carry a numeric limit as law.
- Product test report
Fire classification of the named build: fabric, foam, and shell. Change one item and the transfer stops.
- Sightline literature
C-value is often discussed around 90–120 mm, then project geometry and code fix it. The gate does not impose the value.
Last editorial review: 2026-10-06. Review means the text was checked, not that a project was measured.
Turn the question into a brief
A study starts from room volume, use, and existing condition, not from a product name. Fill the brief and copy it.
Project study form