In the UK, the size above a king is the super king, which measures 180cm by 200cm, or 6ft by 6ft 6in. That is 30cm wider than a king size and it is the largest bed size produced as a standard across British manufacturing.
Beyond that, you move into non standard territory. Emperor beds are commonly 200cm by 200cm, sometimes 202cm by 200cm, and are made by specialist manufacturers rather than as a mainstream size. Caesar and Alaskan king beds, at around 213cm and 274cm wide respectively, are extremely rare in Britain and are made to order. Extra long mattresses are a separate option, adding length rather than width, which is often what tall sleepers actually need.
For nearly everyone asking the question, the practical answer is the super king. It is widely available, bedding is easy to find, and it fits through the doors of a reasonable number of British houses.
A super king mattress is 180cm by 200cm. The length is the same as a king size, so the extra is all width: 90cm per sleeper rather than 75cm. That is the width of a standard single mattress each, which is the clearest way to picture the difference.
With a frame around it, a super king occupies roughly 185cm to 200cm in width and 205cm to 220cm in length. The upper end of that range applies to deeply upholstered designs with padded surrounds, which are the styles most often chosen at this size because the bed is intended to be the centrepiece of the room.
The room needs to be generous. A super king suits a bedroom of about 3.6m by 3.6m or larger. In anything under 3.4m wide, the walking space on each side drops below comfortable and the room starts to feel like a corridor with a bed in it. When you are ready to compare designs, the range of modern super king size fabric beds UK sale options shows how much the frame style adds to the total footprint.
An emperor bed at 200cm by 200cm is square, which changes how bedding behaves and how the bed sits in a room. It gives 100cm per sleeper and is genuinely spacious, but there are consequences worth knowing about.
Bedding is the first. Emperor duvets and sheets are made by fewer suppliers and cost more, and choice is limited. Access is the second: a 200cm wide mattress will not go up most British staircases in one piece, so a rolled or a split mattress becomes necessary. Resale and replacement is the third, because a non standard frame ties you to a non standard mattress size for as long as you own it.
Anything above emperor is best treated as a bespoke project. Alaskan and Wyoming king sizes exist, but they were designed for houses with room proportions that few UK properties share.
A zip and link base is worth considering as an alternative to a wide single mattress. Two mattresses of 90cm each sit on two bases and zip together to form a 180cm super king surface, or separate into two singles.
The advantages are real. Each half can have a different firmness, which solves the common problem of two people needing different support. Access is far easier, because each half travels as a single mattress. And a guest room becomes flexible overnight.
The compromise is the join. Modern designs minimise it, but a sleeper lying centrally will feel it. Couples who sleep close to one another usually prefer a single mattress, while those who keep to their own side often find the zip and link arrangement better in every respect.
Width helps for a specific reason: movement transfer. When two adults share a 150cm mattress, each has 75cm, and a change of position by one sleeper is felt by the other. At 180cm each has 90cm, and disturbance drops noticeably.
Mattress construction matters at least as much, though. A pocket sprung mattress isolates movement because each spring works independently, so a well made king size pocket sprung mattress may disturb you less than a wide mattress with a continuous spring unit. If your reason for wanting a bigger bed is being woken by a partner, look at the mattress construction before the width, and compare pocket counts and firmness options across a pocket sprung mattresses UK range before committing to a larger frame.
Length is the other overlooked factor. Both king and super king are 200cm long, so upgrading to a super king does nothing for a tall sleeper whose feet already reach the end of a king. An extra long mattress solves that, and no amount of extra width will.
Every centimetre the bed gains, the room loses. Going from a king to a super king takes 30cm out of the floor plan, and that has knock on effects.
Bedside cabinets may have to shrink from 45cm to 40cm, or come out altogether in favour of wall lights and a small shelf. A chest of drawers that fitted along one wall may no longer leave a walking route. Wardrobe doors are the biggest issue, since hinged doors need close to a metre of clearance while sliding doors need none, which is why designs from a sliding wardrobes UK sale range are so often the only workable answer in a room with a very large bed.
Storage under the bed becomes more valuable in exchange, because the footprint is larger. A super king lifting base holds a considerable amount, and the choices across an super king ottoman beds UK selection give you back roughly what a chest of drawers would have taken from the floor.
Before you decide anything, measure the route from the front door to the bedroom. Measure the narrowest point, which is usually a stairwell turn rather than a doorway, and measure the diagonal at that turn.
A super king mattress at 180cm wide travels on its side through a standard doorway, but the turn on a half landing is where it stops. Pocket sprung mattresses barely flex. A rolled mattress removes the problem, since it arrives compressed and expands in the room, and this is the single most useful thing to know when buying a large bed for an older UK property. Frames arrive flat packed, and divan bases split into halves, so the mattress is almost always the constraint.
Choose a super king if your bedroom is 3.6m wide or more, if you and your partner disturb one another at night, and if the access route can take it. Choose an emperor only if the room is genuinely large and you are willing to accept restricted bedding choice. Consider zip and link if access is difficult or if you and your partner want different firmness.
Stay with a king size if the room is under 3.4m wide, if you want the floor space for other furniture, or if the bedroom has to work as more than a place to sleep. There is no advantage in a bed so large that the room stops functioning, and Furniture in Fashion would always rather help someone measure properly than sell them a bed that has to be shuffled around a cramped floor. If you are weighing the two sizes against each other, comparing them within the full beds UK range makes the difference in footprint much easier to judge.
A super king, at 180cm by 200cm or 6ft by 6ft 6in. It is 30cm wider than a king size and the same length.
No. Emperor beds, usually 200cm by 200cm, are made by specialist manufacturers. Bedding choice is limited and mattresses are harder to replace.
No. Both are 200cm long. The difference is entirely in the width.
Around 3.6m by 3.6m gives comfortable clearance on both sides and at the foot. Below 3.4m in width, the room begins to feel crowded.
It depends on the turns rather than the doorways. Measure the narrowest point and the diagonal at any half landing. A rolled mattress is compressed for delivery and solves most access problems.
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