"What size is a locker?" has a short answer and a long one. The short answer: a standard full-height steel locker in the UK is 1,800 mm tall (or 1,780 mm on the older imperial pattern), and comes in 300, 380 or 450 mm widths and depths. The long answer is that the external cabinet size tells you surprisingly little about what each user gets, because the same 1,800 mm column can be one compartment or sixteen. This guide sets out the locker sizes and dimensions we actually stock, what the numbers mean, how door count turns a cabinet dimension into a compartment dimension, and what each step up in size costs. Every figure is taken from the live listings in our lockers range (68 products, Probe, UK-manufactured); where the listing does not publish a number, we say so rather than guess.
The three locker dimensions, and the one that is not published
A locker is described by three external measurements. Height is the overall cabinet height, floor to top. Width is the front measurement of one column, and depth is front to back. On our listings the width and depth are sold together as a footprint, for example "300 × 380 mm", and the height is fixed by the range: 1,800 mm for the metric ranges, 1,780 mm for the Standard Imperial range.
The dimension buyers most want, the internal compartment height, is not published on the listings, and we do not invent it. What is published is the door count per column, from which you can estimate the share of height each compartment gets before allowing for the top, base and door frames: a six-door column divides 1,800 mm into six, so each compartment has something under 300 mm of height; a two-door column gives each user something under 900 mm. Treat those as an upper bound for planning and confirm the exact internal figure with us before ordering if a specific item has to fit. Internal width and depth are likewise reduced from the external figure by the carcass and door construction.
Metric or imperial: two size grids that do not match
UK lockers are made to two grids, and they are close enough to be confused and far enough apart to matter. The metric grid (our Standard Metric, Vision Panel, Perforated and PowerBox ranges) is 1,800 mm high with footprints built from 300, 380 and 450 mm. The imperial grid (our Standard Imperial lockers) is 1,780 mm high with footprints built from 305, 381 and 457 mm, which are 12, 15 and 18 inches.
| Dimension | Metric grid | Imperial grid | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 1,800 mm | 1,780 mm (70") | 20 mm |
| Narrow width/depth | 300 mm | 305 mm (12") | 5 mm |
| Mid width/depth | 380 mm | 381 mm (15") | 1 mm |
| Wide width/depth | 450 mm | 457 mm (18") | 7 mm |
For a new installation the choice is cosmetic. For an extension to an existing bank it is not: a 1,800 mm locker stood next to a 1,780 mm bank leaves a 20 mm step along the top line, and a 300 mm column next to 305 mm columns throws the door line out by 5 mm per unit along the run. Measure the height of what you already have before you order, and match the grid. The imperial range is listed as preferred for retrofit installations against existing imperial-format lockers for exactly this reason.
Standard locker footprints
Across the range the stocked footprints are 300 × 300, 300 × 380, 300 × 450, 380 × 380, 380 × 450 and 450 × 450 mm (and their imperial equivalents). Two things follow from that list. Depth is always equal to or greater than width: there is no 450 × 300 mm locker. And the larger footprints are not available on every listing: the 300 mm-wide ranges offer the three 300 mm-wide footprints, while the 380 and 450 mm widths sit on separate "wide format" or "380–450 mm" listings. If you are in a 300 mm listing's dropdown and cannot see a 450 mm-wide option, it is on the wide format lockers page, not missing from the range.
The 300 × 300 mm footprint is the one most people mean by "a standard locker": it takes a folded coat, a bag and shoes in a full-height or half-height compartment and gives the most compartments per metre of wall. Go to 380 or 450 mm deep when the contents are bulky rather than numerous, for example a rigid rucksack, a motorcycle helmet, work boots and a hi-vis coat together, or PPE that must not be crushed. Go to 380 or 450 mm wide when a coat needs to hang without being folded double.
What a bigger footprint costs
Because the door count and the steel shell are the same, the larger footprints are among the cheapest upgrades in the range. On the 10-door flat-top double-width Standard Metric locker, moving from 300 × 300 mm to 380 × 380 mm adds 60% to the floor area of each compartment for 14.6% more money; moving to 450 × 450 mm adds 125% area for 25.8% more. If users are complaining that their lockers are too small, the fix is usually a deeper footprint at the same door count, not fewer doors.
Door count: the real size decision
Once the footprint is settled, the number of doors in a column decides how much of the 1,800 mm each user gets. Our ranges run from 1 door (one full-height compartment) to 16 doors (sixteen pigeonholes). The table gives the stocked door counts and the cheapest listed price for a single column on the 300 × 300 mm footprint, taken from the Vision Panel range, which is the only range sold as a single column; the price per compartment is that price divided by the door count.
| Doors per column | Approx. height share per compartment | Typical use | Single column from | Per compartment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Under 1,800 mm | Full-length coat, uniform, PPE for one person | £324.04 | £324.04 |
| 2 | Under 900 mm | Coat folded, bag, shoes; the workplace default | £369.17 | £184.59 |
| 3 | Under 600 mm | Bag and jacket; gym and leisure | £393.98 | £131.33 |
| 4 | Under 450 mm | Bag or small holdall; school and gym | £417.88 | £104.47 |
| 6 | Under 300 mm | Personal effects, small bag, valuables | £505.60 | £84.27 |
The pattern is the point: the cost per compartment falls 3.8-fold between one door and six on the same floor area, because the shell is the same and only the shelves and doors change. Five, 8, 10 and 16-door columns are stocked in the nested and charging ranges (see the 8-door, 10-door and 16-door lockers collections); at 10 and 16 doors the compartment is a pigeonhole rather than a locker in the everyday sense, sized for a phone, radio, wallet or laptop rather than clothing, which is why those door counts dominate the PowerBox charging lockers.
Choosing door count is therefore a question about the largest item each user must store, not about how many users you have. Decide what has to go in, pick the smallest compartment that takes it, and then decide how many columns you need.
Nests: single, double and triple width
A single-width locker is one column. Double- and triple-width lockers are two or three full columns built as one bank, sharing the internal carcass walls. In our range single-width columns exist only in the Vision Panel range; the Standard Metric and Standard Imperial ranges start at double width, and the Perforated range is stocked in triple width only.
The bank width is, nominally, the column width multiplied by the number of columns: a triple-width 300 mm nest occupies about 900 mm of wall, a double-width 450 mm nest about 900 mm, and so on. Confirm the exact overall dimension with us before you set out a wall, because the nominal figure does not allow for end panels or fixing clearances.
Nesting saves money as well as wall space, but only once. The saving per compartment on the first shared wall is real; beyond that it flattens to roughly £53 to £55 per compartment whether the nest is double or triple. A third column buys floor space, not a further discount.
Flat top or sloping top
Most lockers in the range are offered with a flat top or a sloping top. The sloping top stops items being stored on the locker and stops dust collecting, which matters in food, clinical and clean areas and in corridors where a flat top becomes a shelf. It costs a constant £24.76 to £24.78 per column, whatever the door count, across both the Vision Panel and PowerBox ranges. A sloping top changes the profile at the top of the cabinet; if the locker is going under a fixed shelf, duct or window sill, ask us for the exact overall height rather than relying on the 1,800 mm nominal figure.
Locker sizes by setting
Workplaces and factories. The default is a two-door column on a 300 × 300 or 300 × 450 mm footprint: one user per half-height compartment, a folded coat, bag and shoes. Where PPE, boots and wet-weather gear go in together, step up to 450 mm deep; where uniforms hang full length, a one-door column at 380 or 450 mm wide. Our staff and workplace lockers guide covers allocation and locking.
Gyms, leisure and changing rooms. Three- and four-door columns on 300 × 300 or 300 × 380 mm are the usual sizes for day-use lockers holding a bag and a change of clothes. The perforated lockers give constant airflow through every compartment for damp kit; see the gym and leisure lockers guide.
Schools. Four- and six-door columns are the common sizes for bags and books, with sloping tops in corridors; our school lockers guide sets out the sizing by age group and the cost of getting it wrong.
Devices. Phones, radios, scanners and laptops go in 8-, 10- and 16-door columns. The PowerBox charging range is stocked on 300 × 300, 300 × 450, 380 × 450 and 450 × 450 mm footprints, so a laptop compartment can be as deep as 450 mm; the laptop charging lockers guide covers the charging options.
A sizing checklist before you order
- Measure the largest item each user must store, and whether it hangs or folds.
- Decide door count from that item, not from the number of users.
- Choose the footprint: 300 mm for numerous small compartments, 380 or 450 mm deep for bulky contents, 380 or 450 mm wide for hanging coats.
- If extending an existing bank, measure its height: 1,800 mm means metric, 1,780 mm means imperial.
- Check the ceiling, shelf or sill height against the cabinet plus any sloping top.
- Count columns, multiply by the column width for a nominal bank width, and confirm the exact figure with us.
- If a specific item must fit, ask for the internal compartment dimension; the listings do not publish it.
What we do not stock
Our locker range is steel throughout. We do not stock laminate, plastic or GRP lockers, parcel or smart lockers, garment lockers with hanging rails (the listings describe a coat hook), lockers taller or shorter than the two standard heights, or bespoke sizes. For lockable storage of a different shape, see steel storage cupboards versus lockers. For how the whole range is organised by range, door count, width and top type, start at the lockers collection, and for the choosing decisions beyond size, the metal lockers for the workplace guide follows on from this one.
Looking at specific door counts? See our 4-door lockers and 6-door lockers for the mid-density options, each with a FAQ on tiers, nests and banks.