Studio Capacity & Setup Reference
For a given number of practitioners, the floor area and footprint the home studio space planner recommends, the fixtures the studio lighting calculator derives for that footprint, and the mats and props the prop quantity calculatorreturns for a gentle class of that size — all in one table.
Room size, lighting, and props by headcount
| Practitioners | Floor area | Footprint | Fixtures (practice) | Mats | Blocks | Straps | Bolsters | Blankets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 38 sq ft | 6.2 × 6.2 ft | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 116 sq ft | 10.8 × 10.8 ft | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 192 sq ft | 13.9 × 13.9 ft | 10 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 | 268 sq ft | 16.4 × 16.4 ft | 14 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 8 | 344 sq ft | 18.5 × 18.5 ft | 18 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| 10 | 420 sq ft | 20.5 × 20.5 ft | 22 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| 12 | 496 sq ft | 22.3 × 22.3 ft | 25 | 14 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 6 |
| 16 | 648 sq ft | 25.5 × 25.5 ft | 33 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
| 20 | 800 sq ft | 28.3 × 28.3 ft | 41 | 22 | 20 | 10 | 5 | 10 |
Floor area, footprint, and fixtures assume the space planner’s “standard” comfort level with prop storage included, and a teacher area for every row above 1 practitioner. Mats, blocks, straps, bolsters, and blankets assume a gentleclass at that headcount — use the calculators directly above for a different comfort level, class style, or fixture wattage.
How to read this table
Each row starts from a practitioner count and works outward. The floor area comes first: at the space planner’s standard comfort level that’s 36 square feet per person, plus a fixed 40-square-foot teacher area once there’s more than one person in the room, plus 2 square feet per person for prop storage. A single practitioner skips the teacher area entirely, which is why the jump from row 1 to row 2 is larger than the per-person rate alone would suggest — row 2 is absorbing that fixed 40-square-foot allowance for the first time.
The footprint column treats that floor area as a square room and takes its side length — the same shorthand the space planner itself returns, useful for sanity-checking a real room against a target number even though few rooms are perfectly square. That footprint then feeds the lighting calculator directly: multiply the square footage by 40 footcandles (the practice- floor target), and divide by 800 lumens per fixture, rounding up. That’s why fixture counts jump in visible steps rather than climbing smoothly — each additional fixture only appears once the room crosses a full 800-lumen threshold.
The prop columns run on an entirely separate track from the room-size columns — they only care about headcount, not square footage. Mats are always the headcount plus a spares buffer (at least 2, or 10% of the class, whichever is larger). Blocks, straps, bolsters, and blankets follow the gentle-class ratios — roughly one block per student, one strap per two students, and one bolster or blanket per four to two students — each rounded up to a whole prop, since a studio can’t stock half a bolster.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do the numbers in this table come from?
Every column is computed, not typed in. The floor area and room footprint come from the same planStudioSpace() function behind the home studio space planner. The fixture count comes from calcStudioLighting(), run against that same footprint in practice mode. The mats and props come from calcPropQuantities(), run against the same headcount for a gentle class. Nothing here is a separate, hand-maintained copy of those numbers — change the underlying calculator logic and this table changes with it.
Why does the practitioner count include a teacher area for 2 people but not for 1?
A solo home practice doesn't need a separate area for someone to stand and watch, so the 1-practitioner row is sized as pure practice floor plus prop storage. Every row from 2 practitioners up adds the same fixed teacher-area allowance the space planner uses for any group setting, on the assumption that even a 2-person session has someone leading it.
Why gentle-class props instead of restorative, yin, or vinyasa?
Gentle/hatha sits in the middle of the four class styles the prop calculator supports — restorative and yin use roughly twice as many floor props per student, vinyasa uses roughly half as many. Gentle is the most reasonable single default for a reference table; use the prop quantity calculator directly for the other three styles at your exact headcount.
Is the room actually square?
Not necessarily — recommendedSideFt is just the square root of the total floor area, a stand-in for "a room roughly this size," the same number the space planner itself surfaces. A rectangular room with the same total area lights and fits the same way; use the studio lighting calculator directly with your room's real width and length for a precise fixture count.
Space, lighting, and gear planning only — always confirm any room’s real capacity against local fire-code occupancy limits before booking or advertising a class size.
Use it with
- Home Studio Space Planner— get a floor area and footprint for your own practitioner count, comfort level, and extras.
- Studio Lighting & Space Calculator— plug in your room’s real width and length, not just a square approximation.
- Prop Quantity Calculator— get an exact prop breakdown for restorative, yin, or vinyasa classes, not just gentle.