Understanding Banquette Seating

The beauty of a banquette is that it offers optimum seating room, saves you from having to tuck and untuck from the table and gives a sophisticated, clean look to your interior.

What is a Banquette?

Key Steps When Specifying A Banquette

Firstly (and most importantly) we ask; What is your banquette going to be used for? Will it be for casual or formal dining? For meals or drinks only? Will it be located in your dining room or kitchen? In a restaurant or café?
Something to work out early on is the available access to your space. We have an on-site upholstery team who can complete the final details of the banquette in situ, or we can make the piece in sections, ready to clip together on site.
The next thing to consider is the space and its surroundings. When creating a banquette as a space solution, it’s important to remember that the seat still needs to be a certain depth to ensure optimum comfort. Is the banquette going to be set around a table? In which case, how much space is there under that table – will people’s legs fit? Are you going to have chairs to accompany the banquette? What are their seat heights?
Now we come to the style. Would you like your banquette to be buttoned? Channelled? Fluted? Anything is possible! Just send us an inspiration image and we’ll create the perfect piece for your space.
When choosing the fabric, it is important to consider what it’s going to have to withstand. If the piece is going to be boxed rather than on legs, the fabric needs to be able to withstand shoes scraping against it. If the banquette is going to be in a restaurant, cafe or kitchen, it’s possibly a good idea to have an easy-clean fabric to meet the challenge of heavy-duty use.
Finally, you can make your banquette uniquely yours with details such as contrast piping, show-wood, metal finishes, ruching, pintuck button detailing and many more!

Sofitel St. James

George Smith Banquette Examples

Hospitality Banquettes

Long U Shaped Banquette

This fluted booth banquette resides in St James' Bar in Mayfair, London. Designed with a smooth, sleek feel for cocktails and small plates.

Concave Curved Banquette

This banquette was designed to curve around the cylindrical wall of the Grace Bar at Hotel Zoo in Berlin. The arms and legs are the same style as our Jules Sofa to remain consistent with the other pieces of furniture in the hotel.

U Shaped Ribbed Banquette

This beautiful U Shape banquette resides in the Drawing Room of Soho House Hong Kong. The sofa was designed to be delivered in sections and assembled on site due to the overseas nature of the project.

Outdoor L-Shaped Banquette with Plinth

Designed for the new rooftop area in Soho House Shoreditch, this banquette has a unique, flowing shape with a wide fluted back.

Booth Banquette

This banquette for The Newt in Somerset has a fixed seat and back with turned legs for space for feet underneath. The back of the piece has an added horizontal flute for head support due to its height.

Residential Banquettes

U Shaped Banquette

This U Shaped banquette has pin tucked details with shallow buttons and has been upholstered onto a wooden plinth. It has Show Wood detailing on the outside back, top rail and arm facings.

Early Victorian Chesterfield Banquette with Bolsters

This quirky banquette was designed by Samantha Todhunter Interiors for a karaoke room in San Francisco. The piece was designed in three parts for easy shipping.

Bespoke Dining Bench

Designed to include all the elements of traditional upholstery including coil springs, horse hair and jute webbing, this banquette was made for a family kitchen as a solution to a tight dining space.

U Shaped Banquette with Pull Buttoned Back and Plain Seat

Hannah Lohan Interiors designed this armless banquette for Woolsery Cottage in Devon for everyone to easily get in and out from the dining table.

Fairhill Corner Banquette

Designed as a solution to a small kitchen space, this corner banquette is an adaptation of our Fairhill Sofa with ruching along the arms and pin tucked button detailing along the back. As the access to the kitchen was quite tight, this piece was made in two parts to be clipped together on site.

The Bar | Bespoke Chesterfield Banquette, Chesterfield Sofa, Brewster Chairs, Soho Baby Buttoned Drum | Image: Nick Hopper

Inside Le Grand Bellevue

Step inside this palace hotel in Gstaad, where exquisite style and eclectic design combine with a lively atmosphere that is vibrant and youthful, embracing all generations.

Inside Le Grand Bellevue

Inside Sofitel St. James

Behind a stunning neoclassical façade in the heart of London lies an exceptional 5-star hotel. In a prime location on Waterloo Place, surrounded by historic buildings, Sofitel St James is within easy reach of many of London’s main attractions.

Inside Sofitel St. James

Image courtesy of Hotel Zoo

Inside Hotel Zoo

Hotel Zoo is a super stylish hotel located in Berlin, complete with unique and colourful interiors, maintaining many iconic features from Messel’s 1891 original design.

Inside Hotel Zoo