Coworking space furniture has a harder job than furniture in a normal office. Nobody owns the desk, the tenant mix changes monthly, and the operator is paying for every square foot whether a member is sitting in it or not. That means the furniture has to survive strangers, reconfigure without a crew, and look like something a member would choose to pay for. This guide covers the six zones of a flex office, what furniture each one needs, and how Denver operators furnish them from our warehouse.
Key Points
What to know before you furnish a coworking space
- Six zones, six furniture decisions. Hot desks, dedicated desks, private offices, meeting rooms, phone booths, and lounge each have a different job and a different spec.
- Density pays the rent. Benching for hot desks packs the most members per square foot. Private offices earn the most per member. The mix is the business model.
- Furniture gets reconfigured, not replaced. Freestanding desks, mobile pedestals, and screens beat fixed systems when the floor plan changes every quarter.
- Nobody owns the chair. Task seating in a coworking space is shared by default, so it has to be commercial-grade and adjustable by anyone in ten seconds.
- Used commercial-grade cuts the fit-out by up to 70%, which matters most in the first year when memberships are still filling.
Zone 1: hot desks and open coworking
Hot desks are the open floor where members sit anywhere. The furniture is benching: long shared worksurfaces with low dividers or none, a power strip down the spine, and a task chair per seat. It packs the most people per square foot of any layout, it looks current, and it is loud, which is why the other five zones exist.
Buy benching in runs of one brand and one finish, with the power spine intact. Used benching from corporate open plans comes through our warehouse in exactly that form. The trade-offs between benching and cubicles are covered in our used cubicles buyer’s guide.
Zone 2: dedicated desks
A dedicated desk is a member’s own seat, usually with a locking pedestal and a screen for some visual separation. It is the middle tier of most coworking price lists, and the furniture has to look like an upgrade from the hot desk without becoming an office.
Freestanding used office desks with a mobile pedestal and a desk-mounted screen do this well and move easily when the floor plan changes. Sit-stand desks are the upgrade members ask for most, and used commercial sit-stands from the major brands cost a fraction of new.
Zone 3: private offices
Private offices are where coworking makes its margin: a small room, one to four people, leased by the month at a multiple of the desk rate. The furniture is a desk, a task chair, a guest chair, and storage, and it should look better than the open floor because the member is paying for that.
Demountable glass fronts are the building’s job. The furniture is ours: used executive office furniture in a consistent finish across all the offices, so a member moving from a two-person suite to a four-person suite recognizes the space.
Zone 4: meeting rooms
Meeting rooms are booked by the hour and used by people who have never seen the room before. The furniture has to be obvious: a table sized to the room, chairs that match, power in reach, and nothing to figure out.
Used conference tables and matching seating come through our warehouse from corporate boardrooms and training rooms constantly, usually in sets. Size the table to the room with clearance to walk behind a seated person, and buy one more chair than the table seats.
Zone 5: phone booths and focus rooms
The complaint every coworking operator hears first is noise, and the fix is somewhere to take a call. Purpose-built phone booths are one answer. A small room with a high-panel workstation or a single desk and a door is the other, and it is often cheaper.
High acoustic panels around 66 inches, which are common in used inventory, turn a corner of the open floor into a focus area without construction. This is the one place on a coworking floor where a cubicle system earns its keep.
Zone 6: lounge and reception
The lounge is what the tour walks through first and what the photos show. Soft seating, occasional tables, and a reception desk set the tone for the price list. This is the zone where finish matters more than durability, and where a few good pieces do more than many average ones.
Reception desks, lounge seating, and occasional tables come through our warehouse from corporate lobbies, often in better condition than anything else in the building, because lobbies are lightly used and heavily specified. See used reception furniture for what is standing this week.
Filling memberships before the furniture is paid off?
The first year is the hard one
A coworking fit-out is bought before the members arrive, and the furniture bill lands months before the revenue does. New furniture at retail is a large part of why flex operators run out of runway.
Used commercial-grade cuts that bill by up to 70%. Same brands, same look, and a warehouse you can walk before you commit. Tell us the zones and the seat counts and we will tell you what fits.
How Denver coworking operators furnish from Pear
A coworking order from our 50,000 sq ft Denver warehouse usually runs zone by zone: benching for the open floor, desks and pedestals for dedicated seats, executive sets for the private offices, conference sets for the meeting rooms, and lounge pieces for the front. Everything is standing on the floor, so an operator can walk it in an afternoon and see the finish before ordering. If part of the floor is a dedicated support or call team, the density rules change, and our guide to call center furniture covers them.
Our own crew delivers and installs, and because coworking floors change, the same crew comes back to reconfigure when the plan does. Everything starts from the same inventory of used office furniture in Denver, up to 70% below new retail.
Operators who also rent furnished suites short-term sometimes rent rather than buy. Our office furniture rental service covers that case.
Ready when you are
Tell us the zones and the seat counts
Send the floor plan with the six zones marked and the seats in each. We will tell you what is standing on the floor this week that fits, in one finish, and what it costs installed.
Coworking space furniture, frequently asked questions
What furniture does a coworking space need?
A coworking space needs furniture for six zones: benching and task chairs for hot desks, freestanding desks with lockable pedestals for dedicated seats, executive sets for private offices, conference tables and matching chairs for meeting rooms, high-panel workstations or booths for phone and focus space, and soft seating with a reception desk for the lounge.
What is the best desk setup for a coworking space?
The best coworking desk setup is benching for the open floor, because it packs the most members per square foot and carries power down the spine, plus freestanding desks with mobile pedestals for dedicated seats so the layout can change without a crew. Sit-stand desks are the upgrade members ask for most often.
Should coworking furniture be fixed or freestanding?
Coworking furniture should be freestanding wherever possible, because the floor plan changes with the tenant mix. Freestanding desks, mobile pedestals, and desk screens reconfigure in an afternoon. Fixed panel systems earn their place only in focus areas, where high acoustic panels turn a corner of the floor into a quiet zone without construction.
Can you furnish a coworking space with used furniture?
Yes. Used commercial furniture suits coworking well, because it is built for strangers to use and comes through Pear’s Denver warehouse in matching runs: benching from corporate open plans, executive sets, conference sets, and lounge pieces from lobbies. Everything is inspected, refurbished where needed, and installed by our own crew.
How much does it cost to furnish a coworking space?
Furnishing a coworking space is priced by zone and seat count. Used commercial furniture from Pear runs up to 70% below new retail, which matters most in the first year while memberships are filling. Send the floor plan with zones and seats marked and we will quote what is standing on the floor, installed.
What chairs work best in a coworking space?
Coworking chairs should be commercial task chairs from the major manufacturers, adjustable by anyone in seconds, because nobody owns the chair and everyone uses it. Buy them in matching lots so the floor looks intentional. Used commercial task seating from Herman Miller, Steelcase, and Haworth costs a fraction of new and lasts years.
How do you handle noise in a coworking space?
Noise in a coworking space is managed by zoning: benching for the collaborative floor, high acoustic panels around 66 inches or phone booths for calls and focus, and doors on meeting rooms and private offices. Fabric acoustic panels reduce noise more than glass, and used high-panel workstations are the cheapest way to build a focus zone.
Where can I buy coworking space furniture in Denver?
Coworking space furniture in Denver is stocked at Pear Project Services’ 50,000 sq ft warehouse: benching, desks, executive sets, conference sets, high-panel workstations, and lounge and reception pieces from the major commercial brands. Visits are by appointment, Monday through Friday.
One less thing to manage
The floor should look like the price list
Members decide on the tour. If the lounge, the desks, and the offices look like three different budgets, the price list stops making sense.
Tell us the zones and we will pull a consistent finish across all six. Standing on the floor, quoted installed, and reconfigured by the same crew when the plan changes.
Ready when you are
Get the whole floor quoted by zone
Call or send the floor plan and seat counts. You will get one number for the space standing, one finish across the zones, and a date.
