Designing and building AV for meeting rooms, boardrooms and collaboration spaces across Ireland.
The meeting room has become infrastructure. In a hybrid working world, it’s no longer just a space with a table and a screen — it’s where decisions get made, deals get closed, and teams stay connected across offices and time zones. Getting the room right means thinking about three things together: the space itself, the seating layout, and the AV technology that ties them into one seamless experience.
This guide walks through what a conference-style setup is, the main layout styles and where each one works best, and how to match the right AV to each configuration — the way our team approaches every project at Stacked AV.
What Is a Conference-Style Meeting Setup?
A conference-style setup typically features a large central table surrounded by chairs, designed for collaborative discussion, executive decision-making and strategic planning. You’ll find it in boardrooms, C-level meetings and formal client briefings — anywhere the priority is focus, visibility and everyone being able to see and hear each other clearly, whether they’re in the room or joining remotely.
Conference Room Layout Fundamentals
- Table shape: rectangular, oval or U-shaped, chosen to suit the room’s dimensions and how it’s used
- Seating: equal spacing around the table for comfort, and so every seat sits within the camera’s field of view
- Sightlines: make sure everyone can see the main display and the presenter, and that no seat is left out of frame on a video call
- Hybrid readiness: acoustic treatment, mic placement and camera framing planned so remote participants are heard and seen as clearly as those in the room
Conference Room Layout Styles Explained
Size alone doesn’t make a room work. The seating layout shapes interaction, visibility and engagement — and it directly determines what AV the space needs. Below are eight common arrangements, with the ideal use case and the AV approach Stacked AV would recommend for each.- Theatre Style
- Description: Rows of chairs facing the front, with no tables.
- Best for: Presentations, lectures, announcements and large audiences.
- Advantages: Maximises seating capacity in minimal space.
- AV recommendation: Large-format display or laser projector, ceiling speakers and wireless microphones for presenters.
- Classroom Style
- Description: Rows of tables and chairs facing the speaker.
- Best for: Training sessions, workshops and educational meetings.
- Advantages: Attendees can take notes and work on laptops throughout.
- AV recommendation: Dual-screen setup, wireless presentation for cable-free sharing, and an interactive display for collaborative teaching.
- Banquet Style
- Description: Round tables seating six to ten people each.
- Best for: Corporate dinners, networking events and awards ceremonies.
- Advantages: Encourages social interaction across tables.
- AV recommendation: Distributed microphones, a balanced ambient sound system and centralised displays so every table has a clear view.
- Reception / Standing Style
- Description: Open standing room with scattered seating, typically around food and drink.
- Best for: Product launches, receptions and informal networking.
- Advantages: Flexible and encourages people to mingle.
- AV recommendation: Portable speakers, mobile display carts and considered ambient lighting to set the tone.
- Boardroom Style
- Description: A large rectangular or oval table with chairs all around.
- Best for: Executive meetings, strategic discussions and client briefings.
- Advantages: Focused and formal — every participant faces one another.
- AV recommendation: An all-in-one video bar or modular room system with centre-of-table or ceiling microphones, dual displays and an AI-powered auto-framing camera.
- E-Shape Style
- Description: Three rows forming an ‘E’ facing the front.
- Best for: Workshops with multiple presenters and panel discussions.
- Advantages: Everyone faces forward while keeping a small-group feel.
- AV recommendation: Ceiling microphone arrays, voice-tracking cameras and front-of-room speakers for even coverage.
- U-Shape Style
- Description: Tables arranged in a U, open on one side.
- Best for: Collaborative sessions and presentations with Q&A.
- Advantages: Ideal for a facilitator to move within the space, with clear sightlines to the display.
- AV recommendation: Front display, boundary microphones and a camera with automatic framing to keep everyone in shot.
- T-Shape Style
- Description: A head table connected perpendicularly to a row of tables.
- Best for: Panel-style meetings, reviews and board-level Q&A.
- Advantages: Clearly defines the leader or chair position.
- AV recommendation: A directed audio system and high-resolution PTZ cameras to follow the discussion.
Matching the Space to the Room Size
Layout and AV should scale with the room. As a rule of thumb, here’s how we size solutions across the spaces we fit out:- Focus / huddle room (1–4 people): all-in-one video bar and a single display — quick to deploy and easy for anyone to use
- Standard meeting room (5–12 people): integrated video bar or room system, one or two displays, and a touch controller for one-touch join
- Boardroom / large room (12–20 people): ceiling microphones and speakers, multiple cameras, dual large-format displays and platform-agnostic control
- Training / town-hall room (20+ people): distributed audio, LED video wall or projection, and centrally managed control across the whole space
Best Practices for a High-Performing Room
- Choose platform-agnostic systems that support Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Webex natively, so anyone can walk in and join any meeting with a single touch — no reconfiguring hardware or switching inputs.
- Treat AV devices as network endpoints. Proper segmentation, role-based access, encrypted streams and regular firmware updates keep systems secure — essential for public sector and regulated environments.
- Prioritise audio. Poor sound is the most common cause of failed video meetings, so plan mic pickup and acoustic treatment early rather than as an afterthought.
- Design for the people in the room and those joining remotely equally, so every voice is heard and every face is seen.
- Specify commercial-grade hardware built to last three to five years, not consumer products repackaged for the office — and plan for central management from day one.
Why Stacked AV for Meeting Room Setups
We design and build AV solutions for meeting rooms, boardrooms and collaboration spaces across Ireland, working with businesses of every size and with public sector agencies. We start with a consultation to understand how your teams work, what your pain points are and what you want the experience to feel like — then design a solution matched to the room, the use case and the budget, using leading commercial hardware from manufacturers such as Yealink, Crestron, Logitech, Poly and Nureva. From design through installation to ongoing support, we build spaces that elevate every meeting.
