Sit-stand desks for teams: what to specify and what to skip

A desk that only reaches 118 cm excludes tall users from standing properly, and one that will not drop below 65 cm excludes shorter users from sitting properly. Check the stated range against the people who will actually use it, and remember that a thick surface and a keyboard tray both eat into the low end.

Wobble at full extension is the single most common complaint about sit-stand desks, and it gets worse with width and with a heavy monitor arm. Two-stage columns are the practical minimum for a wide surface; three-stage columns raise faster and are more stable at height, at a cost.

Specify one frame across the team. It makes replacement parts, controller handsets and future reconfiguration trivial instead of a research project.

Laminate is the honest default for a shared floor: it resists coffee and cleaning, and it is inexpensive to replace. Veneer and solid timber look better and cost more to maintain. Whichever you choose, keep it consistent — a floor of mismatched surfaces reads as clutter no matter how good each desk is.

Cable management is not an accessory. A desk that moves needs a tray under the surface and enough slack in the vertical run, otherwise the first time someone stands up they unplug themselves.

• One frame and one surface finish across the floor, widths varied only where the plan demands it
• A cable tray specified with the desk, not bought afterwards
• Screen arms chosen for the surface thickness you actually ordered
• Storage planned at the same time — pedestals and multidrawers decide how deep the desk needs to be

Nordwerk makes the work surfaces we sell for individual workstations: sit-stand frames, fixed desks and meeting tables in veneer, laminate and solid ash, built in Germany. Sotubo's desking systems come from a manufacturer that develops steel and timber systems in-house in Portugal, built around workplaces that get recombined rather than replaced.

• Desks category
• Nordwerk
• Sotubo

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