Theater Planning

Chapter 13Audience Seating

This chapter introduces the technical aspects of seating layouts and circulation. Together with the discussion of audience sightlines in Chapter 12, it forms the practical basis for the design of auditoriums. In Chapter 14 we’ll discuss a theoretical basis for auditorium design.

We start the current discussion with the audience member seated in the auditorium.

Auditorium Seating

Most patrons in most auditoriums sit in chairs fastened to the building. A few patrons will use wheelchairs or other mobility devices, and a few may sit in loose armchairs in the boxes. In flexible or informal spaces, the audience may sit on movable chairs that are ganged into rows. And there are many other seating variations including benches, ...