How to Plan Your Coworking Space Meeting Rooms

Getting the meeting room mix right comes down to 2 things: your location and your audience. Nail those, and you’ll make a far better call on what kind of rooms to build and how many of each.

Meeting rooms in a coworking space are the bookable rooms members and non-members use for calls, client meetings, team sessions, interviews, and events. They range from phone booths to formal conference rooms and event spaces.

They also make money. The most profitable operators generate 30 to 40% of revenue outside of workspace, and meeting rooms sit right alongside events and virtual mail in that mix. That makes them worth planning and managing carefully, aligned with what your space actually needs. Eventually, you’d also like to track and improve their usage so you can make the most out of them.

Demand is on your side here. Cushman & Wakefield reported that meeting room bookings surged worldwide in 2025: up 24.5% in APAC, 22% in the Americas, and 17.4% in EMEA. Rooms are becoming a revenue product, not just an amenity.

Here’s how location and audience shape the rooms you choose.

The role your location plays in planning meeting rooms

As with any other real estate business, location is of high importance as it defines what kind of potential customers you have access to.

And that applies not only for members that would rent a desk or an office long-term. But also for the people who come to your space ad-hoc (i.e. drop-ins).

We’ve identified two distinctive scenarios in terms of your coworking location – you are either near (or in the heart) of huge business traffic, or not.

How does a high amount of business traffic affect meeting room planning?

If you’re in the heart of a business district, your member base probably consists of companies that need a premium business location. The usual reason for paying a higher price to be there is to regularly meet with people outside of their business.

In other words, they have to make themselves accessible. Also, they want to make the right impression and they’ll need an appropriate meeting space to make this happen.

On the other hand, as a crosspoint of many meetings and work travels, your visitors may often be drop-ins. The chance they’ll need a quiet place to sit for a few hours or a meeting room to meet with a business associate is huge. It’s good to think about how to market your meeting rooms so you can attract these people.

To cover the needs of both your regular members and drop-ins, a higher number of meeting rooms might be required. And most likely the majority of meetings will be with clients of your members, which affects the proportion of “informal” and “formal” meeting places in your coworking space.

How does a lower amount of business traffic affect your meeting room planning?

If you’re not located near huge business traffic, it’s more likely the majority of your customers will stay long-term in your space and you’ll have fewer drop-ins.

Your members will still have meetings with clients, but it’s safe to assume that most meetings will be between teammates and coworkers.

You’ll still need formal meeting rooms. However, you’ll need to have enough informal meeting rooms, open leisure spaces, and joint areas, where teams can have a productive discussion and where community collaboration can happen.

The role your coworking audience plays in planning meeting rooms

Credits to Campus X – an awesome coworking space and tech incubator

If you’ve nailed down the first point from the 3 essentials of every successful coworking community, you probably have a good understanding of your target audience and have attracted like-minded professionals in your space.

The essence of their business and their personality define their daily workflow (calls, meetings, etc), or what kind of communication they have (formal, casual, etc).

Who’s in the building has shifted too. Corporate teams now make up roughly 27 to 28% of coworking users, and that share keeps growing. Team offices and meeting spaces are among the most in-demand products operators report, which changes the math on how many group rooms you plan for.

Let’s take a look at 2 examples that can influence how your meeting rooms should be planned:

Service-oriented companies and/or freelancers usually spend a huge amount of time on calls or meeting clients and partners. It’s safe to say that you’ll need a lot of phone booths in place to accommodate the higher number of calls. Also, meeting rooms would probably have to be equipped with coffee and water for eventual client meetings.

Product-oriented teams are mostly focused on building a product, not selling it. Those guys would usually have regular internal team meetings and will need private hang-out places to catch up with colleagues over a cup of coffee. They will also need a whiteboard/multimedia to write notes and present ideas visually.

The type of your audience and its daily work routine are important factors to be considered. They will give you the direction in which you need to focus on when choosing the meeting rooms in your coworking space.

Choosing the right type of meeting rooms

In the term “meeting rooms” we include everything from hangout places where your members can meet, chill and chat, to phone booths, to big conference rooms. Based on the meeting intention, we’ve divided meeting rooms into the following types:

Informal meeting rooms and spaces

These are hangout places, phone booths, and smaller meeting rooms that host just a few people and are generally not meant for long discussions. They usually don’t have much natural light, are not that spacious but still provide the essentials for a short meeting or a call.

You have to book some of them, others are ruled by first come, first served. People usually use them for informal or semi-formal meetings or calls.

It’s where your coworkers can chat with each other, or host job interviews. The small meeting rooms are normally equipped with a whiteboard and basic multimedia (TV), so you can make presentations and draft quick ideas with the team.

This type of “meeting rooms” don’t need to be located near the entrance, but should be easily accessible for your coworking members (from all floors, offices and open areas).

To decide how much space to dedicate to such places, or how to combine them, think about your members’ needs first. A few questions that can help you with that:

• Do your members make a lot of calls on a daily basis? If they do, you’ll need more small rooms and phone-booths.
• Do your members need discussions to happen in private? If yes, well closed-up meeting rooms will be better.
• Do coworkers make plenty of informal discussions? If yes, focus on leisure and hangout places.

Formal meeting rooms

These meeting rooms are usually more spacious, have more natural light, and are more representative. They are used for formal meetings with potential clients and business partners.

Meeting rooms from that type should be equipped with whiteboards and multimedia, as presentations often happen there. Additional services like coffee and water should also be an option.

Another thing to have in mind – this type of meeting room should be easily accessible, so it’s best to locate them near the entrance of the building, preferably on the ground or first floor.

Credits to Campus X

Boardrooms

These are high-luxury meeting rooms with a lot of amenities and services included directly in the price. They are suitable for formal meeting with partners, clients, investors.

The price is high, but these are the rooms where you would like to meet a high profile client or your potential investor. They are classy and are more typical for business centers, rather than coworking spaces.

Adding a boardroom might make sense if your coworking space is located in a global business city or district, where a lot of entrepreneurs, investors, and high-profile business people meet.

Event spaces and Training rooms

These rooms often host public events, which attract not only your members but people outside of your space as well. They are a good “tool” you can use to welcome external audiences and promote your space.

It’s best if they are designed in a flexible way – you should be able to move furniture easily and have some kind of free space where you can serve catering or that can be utilized for anything else related to the event.

A word of caution – event spaces and training rooms are not your typical meeting space. They take a lot of space and a lot of effort goes into utilizing them, so choosing to create one should be aligned with your strategy.

How much of your space should meeting rooms take?

There’s no universal split that works for every space, and desk density alone does little for profitability. Product mix and layout matter more, so plan rooms against real member demand rather than a formula.

A common starting point operators use is roughly 60% for workstations (open desks and private offices), 30% for collaboration and amenities (meeting rooms, lounges, kitchen, breakout areas), and 10% for operations (reception, storage, IT). Treat it as a baseline to adjust from, not a rule. Then let member feedback and booking data tell you where to add or cut rooms.

One practical rule for sizing: match the layout to the work, not just the headcount. A 6 to 7-person meeting room usually needs around 150 to 160 square feet, while a large room for 14 to 16 people runs closer to 450. Leave room to rearrange furniture for workshops and training.

Turning meeting rooms into a revenue product

Rising demand only pays off if you price and manage rooms well. The OfficeRnD FlexIndex Q4 2025 report, built on data from 3,500+ flex locations, found the price per hour of booking jumped from $40.71 in Q3 to $44.38 in Q4 2025, and it flagged hourly pricing as one of the most actionable levers operators can pull. If your rooms are consistently busy but your hourly yield is flat, you’re giving away free upgrades.

A few policy decisions, enforced consistently, do most of the work:

• Peak and off-peak pricing tiers
• Minimum booking durations for prime slots
• Standardized buffers and cancellation windows
• No standing exceptions for the same person every week

OfficeRnD Flex is the coworking management platform that lets you set hourly and daily room rates, cancellation policies, check-in requirements, and business-hours rules, so pricing runs the same way every day. For non-members, its Growth Hub embeds booking straight into your website, so drop-ins can find and pay for a room without filling out a contact form.

Frequently asked questions

What types of meeting rooms should a coworking space have?

Most spaces mix four types: informal rooms and phone booths for calls and short chats, formal meeting rooms for client meetings and presentations, boardrooms for high-profile meetings, and event or training rooms for larger sessions. The right mix depends on your location and the members you attract.

How many meeting rooms does a coworking space need?

It depends on demand, not a fixed ratio. Spaces near heavy business traffic with lots of drop-ins tend to need more rooms and a higher share of formal rooms. Community-led spaces with long-term members lean toward informal rooms and shared areas. Start from your member base and booking data, then adjust.

How big should a coworking meeting room be?

Plan roughly 150 to 160 square feet for a 6 to 7-person room and around 450 square feet for a large room seating 14 to 16. Leave enough space to rearrange furniture for workshops, and match the layout to the type of session rather than only the headcount.

How do meeting rooms make money for a coworking space?

Rooms are booked by members, drop-ins, and external clients, and the revenue tends to recur. Demand is strong: Cushman & Wakefield reported meeting room bookings rose 24.5% in APAC, 22% in the Americas, and 17.4% in EMEA in 2025. Consistent hourly pricing, minimum durations, and clear cancellation rules protect that revenue.

Where should meeting rooms be located in a coworking space?

Put formal meeting rooms near the entrance, ideally on the ground or first floor, since clients and visitors use them most. Informal rooms and phone booths can sit deeper in the space but should be easy to reach from every floor, office, and open area.