The Huddle Room: What It Is, Its Benefits, And Setup Tips [2026]

Huddle rooms are the small meeting spaces that fill the gap between an open desk and a full conference room. They’ve become a standard part of office design because most meetings are small, and booking an eight-person boardroom for a 20-minute sync with two colleagues wastes space and money.

This guide covers what a huddle room is, why it earns its footprint, the four common types, and how to set one up so people actually use it.

Quick Summary

• A huddle room is a small, informal meeting space built for 2 to 6 people, usually 100 to 150 square feet.
• The four common types are minimalist, basic, mid-level, and high-end, sorted mainly by how much technology they hold.
• Huddle rooms cut costs, improve focus, support hybrid meetings, and serve many purposes, from stand-ups to interviews.
• HubStar’s occupancy sensor data shows 80% of meetings happen in rooms designed for six people or fewer, which is why most offices need more small rooms than large ones.

What is a huddle room?

A huddle room is a small meeting space designed for quick, informal collaboration among 2 to 6 people. Most run 100 to 150 square feet, though the size varies with the office.

A typical huddle space has comfortable chairs, a small table, and some decor, such as plants. It also holds the hardware and software that facilitate collaboration, such as a display, a camera, and audio equipment, plus some soundproofing. Many rooms use all-in-one video bars so a laptop connects to the room’s camera, mic, and speaker without cables.

The name comes from the sports huddle: a few people grouping up quickly to align and move on. That’s the point of the room. It’s a fuss-free alternative to booking a large conference room with a formal agenda.

What is the point of having a huddle room?

You can hold meetings in a conference room or at someone’s desk, so why dedicate space to a huddle room? A few reasons.

A quiet space away from the open floor

Privacy is one of the main draws. A huddle room gives an enclosed spot where people can talk through something confidential, or just concentrate, without the noise of an open-plan floor. Face-to-face collaboration at a desk distracts everyone nearby; a huddle room ends that problem.

A versatile space for small meetings

Huddle rooms fit hybrid, one-on-one, virtual, and stand-up meetings, plus demonstrations and brainstorming sessions. They also work for conference calls and interviews.

A way to unify remote and hybrid teams

Huddle spaces are fitted with display screens, audio devices, content-sharing software, and cameras that connect in-office people with remote teammates. Camera and microphone quality matters here: Stanford research cited by Kramer found participants were significantly more likely to multitask when the video was off, so a huddle room needs strong audio and video, not just a screen.

The result is real collaboration regardless of where people join from.

What are the benefits of a huddle room?

Five perks stand out.

Lower cost per meeting

Huddle spaces need less square footage than a regular conference room, and you can set one up in underused space. Allocate a corner of an open floor, or repurpose a meeting room that sits half-empty.

The math backs this up. CoworkingCafe reports that boardrooms built for 17 or more people log utilization rates of just 12%, while the bulk of demand lands in the six-or-fewer bracket. Space sized for the meetings you actually run costs less to build and run.

Huddle rooms don’t demand much equipment either: furniture, a display, audio, and a solid internet connection.

Multipurpose use

One huddle room covers a lot of ground: team syncs, conference calls, virtual meetings, webinars, interviews, one-on-ones, and project discussions.

Privacy

Productive meetings need privacy. Huddle rooms give employees a space away from the main floor for confidential conversations.

Better collaboration

In a smaller room, everyone is closer and everyone gets to speak. There’s no back of the room. These spaces also carry the technology that makes virtual and in-person meetings work.

More focus during meetings

Meetings in the wrong place tend to drift. A designated huddle room holds attention better than the same conversation in a busy open-plan area.

What are the different types of huddle rooms?

Huddle rooms vary mainly by how much technology they hold. Four common types:

Minimalist huddle rooms

Minimalist rooms are carved out of an existing space. They hold very few items: a few chairs, a small table, and sometimes microphones and speakers.

People often use personal devices or collaboration apps to launch a video call in a minimalist huddle room.

Basic huddle rooms

Basic rooms are built into the main office space. They’re more formal and carry more technology than minimalist spaces: usually a speaker, a microphone, a display, and a collaboration app for content sharing.

Mid-level huddle rooms

Mid-level rooms add more tech and furniture. Expect LED displays, speaker tables, video conferencing cameras, and reliable connectivity. Many also let people stream content from personal devices.

High-end huddle rooms

High-end rooms hold so many tools they resemble mini boardrooms, with wall-mounted digital displays and full video conferencing systems.

6 tips for creating a great huddle room

A good huddle room experience takes a bit of planning. Six things that help.

Keep them accessible

Put huddle rooms where employees can reach them easily. Placing them at the edge of an open floor gives both access and privacy. Give people clear guidelines on how and when to use these spaces.

Personalize the space

Meeting spaces have grown more casual, and your huddle room should reflect that. Design and furnish it so it’s comfortable to use. Employee surveys are a good way to find out what furniture and amenities people actually want.

Don’t forget to name them properly, too.

Soundproof the room

Noise hurts productivity. It can also lead to a decrease in physiological well-being.

Soundproof your huddle spaces to block office noise so teams stay focused during meetings.

Get the internet right

Strong connectivity keeps in-office and remote participants in sync, wherever they are, and makes sharing files painless. A dropped call in a huddle room is the fastest way to send people back to their desks.

Leave enough space

Small doesn’t mean cramped. Give people enough room to move without squeezing past furniture or each other. Around 100 square feet fits a small round table and four chairs comfortably, with a wall-mounted monitor.

Also make sure the room has adequate lighting and ventilation.

Provide the right technology

Add the following hybrid meeting equipment to your huddle room:

• Display screen: An appropriately sized and positioned display is core to the room. For most huddle rooms, a monitor between 40 and 55 inches gives a good field of view.

• Audio device: Invest in an audio system with noise suppression. Many rooms use an all-in-one video bar that combines the camera, mic, and speaker to save space and cut cables.
• Camera: Install a camera that captures everyone in the room, especially when remote colleagues are joining.
• Content-sharing technology: Add wireless presentation so people can share from a laptop or phone without hunting for an adapter.
• Power and data ports: Make sure there are enough outlets and ports to keep every device powered through the meeting.

Manage your huddle rooms with OfficeRnD Workplace

Huddle rooms only pay off if people can find and book them without friction, and if you can see which rooms get used. That takes the right software.

OfficeRnD Workplace is workplace management software that lets employees book desks and meeting rooms from an interactive office map, on web, mobile, Microsoft Teams, Outlook, Slack, or a Google Calendar extension.

With OfficeRnD Workplace you can:

• Book desks and rooms on an interactive office map
• Bring people to the office for the moments that matter
• Coordinate hybrid work schedules
• Track room and desk utilization to right-size your space
• …and much more

The utilization data matters most for huddle rooms. It shows whether your small rooms are overbooked while a boardroom sits empty, so you can adjust the mix before spending on more space.

Want to take a look? Click here to start for free with OfficeRnD Workplace.

FAQ

What is a huddle room?

A huddle room is a small, often enclosed space for quick, informal meetings or private work sessions. It fits a small group, usually 2 to 6 people, and is equipped with video conferencing and content sharing. The setup suits short discussions, one-on-ones, and focused solo work without the need for a full conference room.

What’s the purpose of a huddle room?

It gives a quiet, private space for small meetings, ideal for confidential conversations or work that needs focus. Because most meetings are small, huddle rooms handle the majority of an office’s day-to-day collaboration.

What’s the difference between a huddle room and a conference room?

Size and formality. Conference rooms are larger, seat more people, and suit scheduled meetings with agendas. Huddle rooms are smaller, more casual, and built for spontaneous or short sessions.

What’s the typical size of a huddle room?

Most huddle rooms run 100 to 150 square feet, enough for a small table, a few chairs, and a wall-mounted display. A room around 10 by 10 feet works well for four people.

How many huddle rooms does an office need?

It depends on your meeting volume rather than headcount. As a starting point, huddle rooms and small conference rooms should make up the majority of your room mix, since most meetings involve six people or fewer. Track how your rooms are actually used, then adjust.

What technology does a huddle room need?

At minimum: a display, a camera, a microphone, a speaker, wireless content sharing, and reliable internet. An all-in-one video bar covers the camera, mic, and speaker in one device and keeps the room clutter-free.