Double Sided Cloakroom Benches

A double sided bench is an island unit. It stands away from the wall and seats users on both sides, with hooks or a hanging rail running down the centre. Where a single sided bench borrows a wall, a double sided bench creates its own — which is why it is the efficient choice in any changing room big enough to have a middle.

The capacity argument

Our double sided Probe benches are 710mm deep against 375mm for the equivalent single sided bench. So an island unit takes roughly 1.9 times the footprint but seats twice the people and hangs twice the coats. Per square metre of floor, double sided wins — provided you have circulation space either side of it. Allow room for someone to sit and bend down to tie a lace on both faces before you commit to a layout.

This is also the format that scales. Two 2,000mm island benches back to back down the centre of a sports pavilion changing room will seat a full squad without touching the perimeter, leaving the walls free for lockers.

Configurations in this range

Eleven double sided units, all on the same UK-made Probe frame — welded tubular mild steel, powder-coated, beech or black polymer seat slats, full ironmongery included:

With coat hooks and hook with undershelf / hook with baskets — a central hook rail on a 1,840mm frame, serving both sides. The workhorse configuration. See hook benches.
With overhead rail and overhead rail with undershelf — high-level hanging for hangers and long coats. See overhead rail benches.
With undershelf and with baskets — seating plus under-seat storage, no hanging. See basket benches.
Low seat, low seat with undershelf, low seat with baskets — 1,000mm frames for rooms where coats live in lockers.

Sizes and heights

Lengths are 1,000, 1,200, 1,500 and 2,000mm. Seat heights are 350mm Infant, 400mm Junior and 475mm Senior, and full-height hanging frames stand 1,840mm overall.

One specification point that catches people out: Infant and Junior heights are offered on the hook, undershelf and basket models, but the overhead rail and low seat units are Senior only. Primary and nursery cloakrooms should be specified from the hook-rail range.

Getting the layout right

Island benches are floor-fixed rather than wall-fixed, so they need a sound floor and a set-out drawing before delivery — once the fixings are down, moving a run is not a five-minute job. Mark out the bench footprints plus circulation on the floor with tape and walk it before you order.

Frames come in seven colours (red, yellow, blue, green, black, white, silver), which makes colour-coding home and away, or year groups, straightforward. Beech slats suit dry indoor cloakrooms; black polymer handles wet changing areas and poolside far better.

For the full decision — single or double, hooks or rail, bench or locker — see our cloakroom seating guide, or browse all cloakroom benches. Frames by Probe.