Double Student Desks

The double student desk is the most common way to seat more students in the same classroom area. Sırasan produces four models — Modena, Tekno, Dünya and Elips — meeting the double layout with different frame configurations and screen options. Compare all four on this page and choose the one that suits your class size.

Four models compared

When is a double desk the right choice?

What a double desk buys you is space. Markedly more students are seated in the same classroom than with a single layout, and the number of aisles falls. In schools with thirty or more students per class, the double layout is often a necessity.

Against that, two students sharing one top is a disadvantage during examinations and individual assessment. In schools with a heavy examination load the common solution is to equip examination rooms with single desks and ordinary classrooms with doubles. That arrangement preserves both the space and the examination layout.

Size and height selection

Double top size varies with material: 45×110 cm (Werzalit) or 49×120 cm (CDF). The CDF top being both deeper and wider eases the elbow distance between two students.

Modesty screen: necessary, and which material?

A modesty screen does two jobs: it gives the classroom a tidy appearance and adds lateral rigidity to the frame. On double desks, where the top is long, the second function matters more.

Material and long-term cost

Because the top is long on a double desk, edge durability is even more critical than on a single. On Werzalit tops the edge is machined as a rounded profile with no band to lift; on CDF tops the black-core edge is already closed to water. On melamine-faced tops, wear almost always begins at an unprotected edge.

The second critical point on a long top is centre support. On the Tekno model a centre support column takes that role; on other models the frame geometry is designed to do the same job. There should be no perceptible flex when someone leans on the middle of the desk.

If you are planning the whole classroom, our classroom equipment page covers layout and product selection as a whole; student chair selection can be planned in the same quotation.

Layout planning in a crowded classroom

It is a mistake to think that switching to double desks saves space by itself. The gain comes because the number of desks falls, and with it the number of aisles. In a class of thirty, a single layout needs five columns by six rows; a double layout needs three columns by five rows, and the difference is not just desk area but two whole aisles.

There is a limit to watch, however: on a double desk the student on the inside cannot get up unless the one on the outside pulls their chair back. Row spacing therefore needs to be slightly wider than in a single layout. Space you think you gain by shortening the distance behind desks actually slows movement during the lesson.

Quantity calculation: a common mistake

The most frequent mistake when ordering double desks is calculating quantity as student number ÷ 2. That assumes a permanently full class and ignores two things: class sizes change during the year, and any class may end up with an odd number of students.

The practical approach is to plan a spare desk for each classroom. Keeping a few spares per school — for a transferring student, a temporary arrangement or to replace a broken desk — is both cheaper and faster than ordering one at a time later; on small follow-up orders the shipping cost per unit rises steeply.