A cubicle office layout gives each person their own screened-off desk. It suits work that needs focus and fewer visual distractions. For truly confidential calls, people still need a room or an enclosed booth.
You don’t need walls or builders to make one. Desks, desk screens and a sensible plan will do it. This guide covers how to lay out cubicles, what size to make them, the furniture you need and when a different layout would suit you better.
Quick answer: to create a cubicle office layout, set desks in rows or back-to-back clusters, fit screens between them, and keep a clear walkway along each row. A four-person cubicle is often simply a four-person bench desk with screens. Add a meeting space, because people in cubicles still need somewhere to talk.
What is a cubicle office?
A cubicle office divides an open floor into individual workspaces with screens or partitions. Each person gets a desk with a screen in front and, often, at the sides. Most of the floor goes to individual desks, with smaller shared areas for meeting and breaks.
Desk screens like ours stand 400 to 480 mm above the worktop. That blocks much of the view across a desk when you’re seated, and you can still talk over them standing up. The trade is more visual privacy and focus, and less casual chat.
Cubicle office pros and cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| More visual privacy at each desk | Screens cost money and take a little space |
| Sound-absorbing screens soften desk noise | Screens don’t make calls private: confidential calls need a room or an enclosed booth |
| Fewer visual distractions | Less casual conversation between colleagues |
| Fewer casual interruptions: walking round a screen makes people think twice | Screens, chair space and walkways can need more floor for the same team, which can mean more rent |
| Each person has a defined space | Harder for a manager to see the room at a glance |
| Easy to change: screens unclamp and move | Can feel isolating without a shared space nearby |
If your team mostly works alone and needs to concentrate, the pros usually win. If they spend the day working together, look at the alternatives further down.
Two cons are worth planning for. Managers can’t see who’s free at a glance. So agree how check-ins work, such as a quick message first, and walking into someone’s cubicle won’t feel intrusive. And if staff discuss sensitive matters, such as personal finance or medical details, give them an enclosed room or booth: screens don’t stop voices carrying.
How to create a cubicle office layout in five steps
- Measure the room. Note doors, windows, radiators and sockets. HSE guidance sets a minimum of 11 cubic metres of room per person, counting any height over 3 m as 3 m.
- Choose rows or clusters. Straight rows are easiest to fit and to walk along. Back-to-back clusters of two or four desks share space between facing desks, which can fit more people into the same floor. Check on your plan.
- Plan the walkways first. Leave a clear route along each row and to the door. Add room behind each desk for the chair to push back.
- Add screens. A screen between facing desks is a good place to start. Add side screens where people sit next to each other.
- Set aside shared space. Keep space for a meeting table, a booth or a breakout area, so people have somewhere to talk.
For the space behind each desk and between rows, see our guide to how much space to leave between desks.
Before you draw: a quick planning checklist
- How many people at once? Count the busiest day, plus any planned hires.
- What kit and storage? Two screens need a wider desk. Paper-heavy roles need a pedestal or filing nearby.
- Focus or teamwork? Decide who needs screened focus desks and who needs to work together.
- What might change? Screens that clamp on and off make a layout easy to rearrange later.
Rows, clusters or a mix?
| Arrangement | Suits | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Straight rows | Narrow rooms, people who mostly work alone | Long rows need a way in at both ends |
| Clusters of four | Small teams who work together | Facing colleagues hear each other more |
| Mixed | Screened focus desks beside an open team area | Keep the busy shared area away from the focus desks |
Group people by team or department, so the colleagues who need each other sit in the same cluster. No arrangement is best for every office: pick the one that matches how your people work.
Plan power, data and light
- Power and data to every desk. Mark where the sockets and network points are. Desks in the middle of the room need power brought to them, through floor boxes or a desk power module fed from a wall socket.
- Cables off the floor. Run leads under the desks and down a cable riser, never across a walkway. See our cable management.
- Daylight and glare. Set desks side-on to windows where you can, so screens don’t face the glare or reflect it. Tall solid screens can also block daylight from desks further in.
Test one bay before you order the rest
Set up one cubicle, or mark it out on the floor with tape. Then sit in it and check:
- the chair pushes back without hitting the desk behind;
- pedestal drawers and filing drawers open fully;
- people can get in and out while their neighbours are seated.
How to set up a four-person office cubicle
The simplest four-person cubicle is a four-person bench desk with screens. Two desks face two others on a shared frame, and screens divide all four.
Our Fuze and Evolution four-person benches, for example, are two 800 mm deep desks back to back. That makes them 1600 mm deep, and 2400 to 3200 mm long depending on the desk width per person.
- Centre screens: screens down the middle, usually one per desk width, separate the facing pairs. Check the brackets suit the desktop: the Fuze and Evolution benches have 25 mm tops.
- Side screens: shorter screens between neighbours finish each cubicle.
- Walkway: leave room on both long sides for chairs and for people to pass.
Example: a four-person cubicle, measured out
Take a four-person bench 2800 mm long and 1600 mm deep, so each person has a 1400 mm wide desk.
- Screens: two centre screens along the middle, one per desk width, and a side screen between each pair of neighbours.
- Chairs: allow about 1.2 m on each long side for the chairs to push back. That’s a common rule of thumb, so check it with your own chairs.
- Whole footprint: 1.2 m + 1.6 m + 1.2 m makes about 4 m deep by 2.8 m long. Plan for that, not just the 1600 mm bench.
- Getting in: people reach their desks from the long sides, so keep those clear. Leave a way round the ends too.
- Storage: a pedestal under each desk needs room to open into the chair space.
Browse four-person bench desks and desk screens and dividers.
Office cubicle size: how big should each one be?
There’s no standard cubicle size. Each one is as big as the desk inside it, plus the space for the chair.
Our Start and One desks, for example, are 600 or 800 mm deep and 800 to 1800 mm wide. A 1200 or 1400 mm wide desk leaves room for a screen and some papers; go wider if people use two screens.
Screen height matters too. Our desk-mounted acoustic screens stand 400 mm above the desk, and our fabric desktop screens are 480 mm high. Both come with clamps to fix them to the desk.
Cubicle furniture: what you need
Desks
Straight desks are the easiest to screen and line up. A rectangular desk makes the most of a straight run. An L-shaped or corner desk adds a second work surface where the bay is big enough. Corner and crescent desks wrap round the user and work well in a corner cubicle. They can take screens along their straight edges, so check the screen length and brackets suit the desk. See our corner office desks.
Two examples from our range:
- Start straight desks: 800 mm deep, 800 to 1800 mm wide, with screens and cable guides available for the range.
- One crescent desk: 1600 by 1200 mm, in beech, grey oak, oak or white, with cable ports built into the frame.
Corner desks come in left-hand and right-hand versions. Pick the one that leaves the open side facing the cubicle’s entrance, and that doesn’t clash with the desk or cabinet next to it.
Screens
Desk screens fix to the worktop with clamps or brackets and give each person their own space. Acoustic screens are made from sound-absorbing panels, to soften noise as well as block the view.
The other choice is a freestanding screen, which stands on its own feet on the floor. Here’s how they compare:
| Desk-mounted screen | Freestanding screen | |
|---|---|---|
| Fixing | Clamps or brackets on the desk | Stands on feet, no fixing |
| Floor space | None | Its feet take a little floor |
| Best for | Dividing desks that sit together | Existing desks that won’t take a clamp, temporary layouts, dividing off an area |
| Height | Just above the desk | Can be taller, for more privacy when seated |
Taller and solid panels give more visual privacy but block more daylight. Neither kind makes a conversation private. See our office screen dividers.
Storage
Cubicles are compact, so use the space under the desk. A mobile pedestal rolls out when needed; choose one with a lock if people keep personal things or sensitive papers in it. Our Workwise steel mobile pedestal, for example, has two storage drawers and a filing drawer, all lockable, and is 380 mm wide. See our office pedestals.
For more storage in a small bay:
- A compact filing cabinet. Our Workwise steel 2-drawer cabinet is 465 mm wide, 620 mm deep and 700 mm high. Leave room in front for the drawers to open. See all filing cabinets.
- A compact bookcase for books and files you reach for often. See our wooden office bookcases.
- Full-height lockers for coats and bags, placed near the break area where they don’t block a walkway. Our guide to office lockers explains the options.
Somewhere to meet
People who work in cubicles still need to talk. A meeting table, or a booth on the open floor, gives them somewhere to talk away from the desks. For private conversations, choose an enclosed pod or a meeting room. See meeting tables and meeting pods and booths.
When people usually work apart, their meetings can run longer and go into more detail. So choose a table big enough for the whole group and their papers, with comfortable office chairs. Then check there’s still room to walk round it.
Somewhere to take a break
A break area gives people somewhere to relax away from their screens. Make it big enough for the people likely to use it together, with room to move. Soft sofas or comfortable chairs, with small tables for drinks and food, do the job. See our breakout furniture.
Cubicle layout alternatives
A cubicle layout is one of several. If privacy isn’t the main need, one of these may suit you better.
- Open plan: rows of shared desks with no screens. Easy to ask a quick question and share ideas, which suits creative teams, but noisier for focused work.
- Team clusters: shared tables for each team, such as a large rectangular table, a round table or a group of small tables. Good for working together, with little individual privacy.
- Hybrid: some fixed desks, some shared desks and a meeting space, for teams who come in on different days. One version gives half the floor to team clusters and half to cubicles, but split it to suit your teams. A mix needs more types of furniture and enough floor for each area.
- Activity-based: zones for each kind of work, such as quiet booths, meeting tables, a lounge and focus desks.
Our guide to office layouts compares them in more detail.
Many offices mix them. A few phone booths on an open floor give people a quiet, private place to go without screening every desk.
Cubicle office FAQs
What is cubicle etiquette?
Cubicle etiquette is the set of habits that keeps a screened office quiet. Typical rules:
- no speakerphone calls at the desk;
- no shouting over screens;
- knock or say hello before stepping into someone’s cubicle, and ask yourself if the interruption can wait;
- eat strong-smelling food in the break area, not at the desk;
- take long conversations to a meeting space.
Should employees decorate their cubicles?
That’s up to your own office rules. A few photos and personal things help a cubicle feel like someone’s own space. Keep it modest and tidy, in keeping with the rest of the office, and leave anything sensitive or inappropriate at home. Our desk accessories help keep it neat.
What’s the difference between a closed and an open office?
A closed office is divided into separate rooms or enclosed offices, with walls and doors. An open office is one shared floor. It can still have screens between desks: a cubicle layout is an open floor divided by screens.
Plan it on paper first
Draw the room to scale, mark the walkways, then fit the desks and screens around them. It’s far easier to move a desk on paper than in the office. For ideas on finishes and colour, see our office interior design ideas, and for how furniture choices affect the working day, our guide to office furniture and productivity.
If you’d like help choosing desks and screens that work together, our friendly team is happy to help.
