The quarterly review has run past lunch and someone has knocked over a flat white. The people on the window side have spent an hour perched on the front of their seats, because the chair arms will not slide under the table. The coffee was an accident. The discomfort was not: it comes down to how the boardroom chairs were chosen: the base, the back height, the arm height and the upholstery.
This guide works through those decisions using chairs from the meeting and boardroom chairs range, and compares five chairs side by side.
Castors, cantilever or sled base?
Start with the base, because it decides how a chair behaves in the room. A chair on castors lets people roll back to stand and turn towards a screen without scraping anything. A cantilever sits on one continuous bent frame with no wheels or mechanism, so it stays put and gives a slight spring as you lean back. A sled base is a looped frame that sits flat on the floor and is often designed to stack.
The Metro range shows the trade-off clearly, because the same chair comes on different bases. The Metro Meeting Chair - Cantilever Base ($391) has a stainless steel and chromed frame, a webbed, sprung seat with soft pads, and removable armrests. Its seat height is fixed at 460mm, and it is rated to 140kg with a 10 year warranty.
The Metro Meeting Chair with Arms ($570) keeps the Black Eurotex PU and sprung seat but moves to a castor base with a gas lift. Its seat adjusts from 440mm to 530mm, which matters once you measure your table. The rating and warranty are the same.
Cantilevers suit client-facing rooms where chairs should stay neatly lined up. Castor chairs suit long meetings and rooms built around a wall screen. Sled bases belong in rooms that regularly need clearing.
Mid back or high back boardroom chairs
A mid back supports the lower and middle back and keeps sightlines open, which makes it the sensible default for most meeting rooms. A high back adds upper-back support for people who lean back through long sessions, and it looks more formal. Many boardrooms put a high back at the head of the table and mid backs along the sides.
That only looks deliberate if the chairs match. The Metro High Back Meeting Chair with Arms ($619) shares the mid back version's Black Eurotex PU, stainless steel frame, removable armrests, 480mm by 480mm seat and 440mm to 530mm seat height. For more presence at the head of the table, the executive office chairs collection includes leather, vegan leather and mesh styles, many with high backs.
Armrests, table aprons and how many chairs fit
This is the measurement most buyers skip. Many boardroom tables have an apron or frame rail under the top, and its underside sits lower than the tabletop. If a chair's armrests are taller than that gap, the chair stops short of the table every time.
Measure from the floor to the underside of the apron, then measure the chair's armrest height at its lowest seat setting. Listed specs give seat heights, not arm heights. If they clash, the Metro with Arms can drop to 440mm and take its arms down with it. All three Metro chairs have removable armrests, or you can choose armless chairs. The cantilever Metro is fixed at 460mm, so check that one with a tape measure.
Spacing is the other half of the fit. Common planning guidance is to allow about 600mm of table edge per person as a minimum, and closer to 750mm for chairs with arms or long meetings. On that basis, a 2,400mm table seats three a side comfortably and four at a squeeze. Leave at least a metre between the table edge and the wall.
Upholstery and weight ratings
Meeting rooms see food, coffee and many short sits, so easy cleaning counts. PU, often sold as leather-look, wipes down with a damp cloth after a catered lunch. The trade-off is warmth: PU does not breathe like mesh or fabric.
Fabric feels softer and offers more colour choice. The Buro Roma 3 Lever - Mid Back 180kg (from $399) comes in Jett fabric in Black, Navy, Charcoal, Green or Red, with or without arms. It suits meeting rooms that double as project rooms, where a team sits all day. It is rated to 180kg for an indicative 8+ seated hours a day, with independent seat and back angle adjustment and a seat slider.
Every chair in this guide states a weight rating, so choose for the heaviest regular user of the room, not the average one. If you are weighing a task chair against an executive style, the comparison of executive chairs and ergonomic task chairs explains what the extra money buys.
Stackable meeting chairs for multipurpose rooms
A room that hosts training on Tuesday and the board on Thursday needs chairs that clear away. The Mesh Stackable Visitor ($165) pairs a mesh back with a plastic seat on a chrome sled base. The chairs stack and link together, can be moved with the optional Z Trolley, and arrive assembled. It is rated to 110kg with a 5 year Australian warranty.
The trade-off is comfort. A plastic seat with no arms suits an hour-long briefing far better than a half-day workshop. The visitor and waiting room chairs range has more stackable options.
Here is how the five chairs in this guide compare.
| Chair | Base | Seat height | Rating | Price | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metro Cantilever Base | Chrome cantilever | 460mm, fixed | 140kg | $391 | Arms can be removed, not lowered |
| Metro with Arms | Castors, gas lift | 440–530mm | 140kg | $570 | Needs room to roll back |
| Metro High Back | Castors, gas lift | 440–530mm | 140kg | $619 | Costs more than the mid back for the same seat |
| Buro Roma Mid Back | Nylon, twin wheel castors | 465–595mm | 180kg | from $399 | 630mm wide overall |
| Mesh Stackable Visitor | Chrome sled | 450mm | 110kg | $165 | Plastic seat, no arms |
What Australian meeting rooms ask of a chair
In a small Australian office, the meeting room is often the only enclosed room on the floor. It hosts the board, client pitches, interviews, video calls, training and Friday lunch. That argues for chairs that stay comfortable for two hours, wipe clean, and either tuck in tightly or stack away.
Climate plays a part. A black PU chair in a glass-walled room that catches the afternoon sun in Brisbane or Perth gets warm, while mesh and fabric stay cooler.
So does timing. Many businesses plan furniture spending around the end of the financial year on 30 June. Most items dispatch within 3 to 12 business days, and made-to-order items take longer, as shown on each product page. The Roma's Charcoal, Green and Red colours, for example, are listed at 10 to 15 days.
Deliveries go to the ground-floor entrance, and goods arrive flat-packed unless the product page says assembled, so organise who will take the boxes up in the lift.
Boardroom chairs — frequently asked questions
Should boardroom chairs have wheels?
Choose castors if meetings regularly run past an hour or people need to turn towards a screen. Choose a cantilever or sled base if you want chairs to stay neatly in place between meetings.
How much space does each boardroom chair need?
Allow about 600mm of table edge per person as a minimum, and about 750mm for chairs with arms. Leave at least a metre between the table edge and the wall so people can push back and stand.
Are cantilever chairs comfortable for long meetings?
A well-padded cantilever is comfortable for a typical one- to two-hour meeting, and the frame gives a little as you lean back. For half-day sessions, a chair with seat height and back adjustment is usually the better choice.
What weight rating should a meeting chair have?
Pick a rating that covers the heaviest regular user of the room. In this guide, ratings run from 110kg for the Mesh Stackable Visitor to 180kg for the Buro Roma.
Shop the range
Browse the full meeting and boardroom chairs collection for cantilever, castor and high back options. If you want one chair that adapts to most tables, start with the Metro Meeting Chair with Arms. Metro delivery is a flat $75 per order, and prices include GST.
