diff --git a/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/components/SidePanel.tsx b/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/components/SidePanel.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..febf6489
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/components/SidePanel.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+import { useSnapshot } from 'valtio'
+import { layoutStore } from '@/stores/layout'
+import { css } from '@/styled-system/css'
+import { Heading } from 'react-aria-components'
+import { text } from '@/primitives/Text'
+import { Box, Button, Div } from '@/primitives'
+import { RiCloseLine } from '@remixicon/react'
+import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next'
+import { ParticipantsList } from './controls/Participants/ParticipantsList'
+import { useWidgetInteraction } from '../hooks/useWidgetInteraction'
+import { ReactNode } from 'react'
+
+type StyledSidePanelProps = {
+  title: string
+  children: ReactNode
+  onClose: () => void
+  closeButtonTooltip: string
+}
+
+const StyledSidePanel = ({
+  title,
+  children,
+  onClose,
+  closeButtonTooltip,
+}: StyledSidePanelProps) => (
+  <Box
+    size="sm"
+    minWidth="360px"
+    className={css({
+      overflow: 'hidden',
+      display: 'flex',
+      flexDirection: 'column',
+      margin: '1.5rem 1.5rem 1.5rem 0',
+      padding: 0,
+      gap: 0,
+    })}
+  >
+    <Heading
+      slot="title"
+      level={1}
+      className={text({ variant: 'h2' })}
+      style={{
+        paddingLeft: '1.5rem',
+        paddingTop: '1rem',
+      }}
+    >
+      {title}
+    </Heading>
+    <Div position="absolute" top="5" right="5">
+      <Button
+        invisible
+        size="xs"
+        onPress={onClose}
+        aria-label={closeButtonTooltip}
+        tooltip={closeButtonTooltip}
+      >
+        <RiCloseLine />
+      </Button>
+    </Div>
+    <Div overflowY="scroll">{children}</Div>
+  </Box>
+)
+
+export const SidePanel = () => {
+  const layoutSnap = useSnapshot(layoutStore)
+  const sidePanel = layoutSnap.sidePanel
+
+  const { isParticipantsOpen } = useWidgetInteraction()
+  const { t } = useTranslation('rooms', { keyPrefix: 'sidePanel' })
+
+  if (!sidePanel) {
+    return
+  }
+
+  return (
+    <StyledSidePanel
+      title={t(`heading.${sidePanel}`)}
+      onClose={() => (layoutStore.sidePanel = null)}
+      closeButtonTooltip={t('closeButton', {
+        content: t(`content.${sidePanel}`),
+      })}
+    >
+      {isParticipantsOpen && <ParticipantsList />}
+    </StyledSidePanel>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/components/controls/Participants/ParticipantsList.tsx b/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/components/controls/Participants/ParticipantsList.tsx
index 1144db1b..6c79ee9c 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/components/controls/Participants/ParticipantsList.tsx
+++ b/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/components/controls/Participants/ParticipantsList.tsx
@@ -1,17 +1,13 @@
 import { css } from '@/styled-system/css'
 import { useParticipants } from '@livekit/components-react'
 
-import { Heading } from 'react-aria-components'
-import { Box, Button, Div, H } from '@/primitives'
-import { text } from '@/primitives/Text'
-import { RiCloseLine } from '@remixicon/react'
-import { participantsStore } from '@/stores/participants'
+import { Div, H } from '@/primitives'
 import { useTranslation } from 'react-i18next'
 import { allParticipantRoomEvents } from '@/features/rooms/livekit/constants/events'
-import { ParticipantListItem } from '@/features/rooms/livekit/components/controls/Participants/ParticipantListItem'
-import { ParticipantsCollapsableList } from '@/features/rooms/livekit/components/controls/Participants/ParticipantsCollapsableList'
-import { HandRaisedListItem } from '@/features/rooms/livekit/components/controls/Participants/HandRaisedListItem'
-import { LowerAllHandsButton } from '@/features/rooms/livekit/components/controls/Participants/LowerAllHandsButton'
+import { ParticipantListItem } from '../../controls/Participants/ParticipantListItem'
+import { ParticipantsCollapsableList } from '../../controls/Participants/ParticipantsCollapsableList'
+import { HandRaisedListItem } from '../../controls/Participants/HandRaisedListItem'
+import { LowerAllHandsButton } from '../../controls/Participants/LowerAllHandsButton'
 
 // TODO: Optimize rendering performance, especially for longer participant lists, even though they are generally short.
 export const ParticipantsList = () => {
@@ -44,76 +40,40 @@ export const ParticipantsList = () => {
 
   // TODO - extract inline styling in a centralized styling file, and avoid magic numbers
   return (
-    <Box
-      size="sm"
-      minWidth="360px"
-      className={css({
-        overflow: 'hidden',
-        display: 'flex',
-        flexDirection: 'column',
-        margin: '1.5rem 1.5rem 1.5rem 0',
-        padding: 0,
-        gap: 0,
-      })}
-    >
-      <Heading
-        slot="title"
-        level={1}
-        className={text({ variant: 'h2' })}
-        style={{
-          paddingLeft: '1.5rem',
-          paddingTop: '1rem',
-        }}
+    <>
+      <H
+        lvl={2}
+        className={css({
+          fontSize: '0.875rem',
+          fontWeight: 'bold',
+          color: '#5f6368',
+          padding: '0 1.5rem',
+          marginBottom: '0.83em',
+        })}
       >
-        {t('heading')}
-      </Heading>
-      <Div position="absolute" top="5" right="5">
-        <Button
-          invisible
-          size="xs"
-          onPress={() => (participantsStore.showParticipants = false)}
-          aria-label={t('closeButton')}
-          tooltip={t('closeButton')}
-          data-attr="participants-close"
-        >
-          <RiCloseLine />
-        </Button>
-      </Div>
-      <Div overflowY="scroll">
-        <H
-          lvl={2}
-          className={css({
-            fontSize: '0.875rem',
-            fontWeight: 'bold',
-            color: '#5f6368',
-            padding: '0 1.5rem',
-            marginBottom: '0.83em',
-          })}
-        >
-          {t('subheading').toUpperCase()}
-        </H>
-        {raisedHandParticipants.length > 0 && (
-          <Div marginBottom=".9375rem">
-            <ParticipantsCollapsableList
-              heading={t('raisedHands')}
-              participants={raisedHandParticipants}
-              renderParticipant={(participant) => (
-                <HandRaisedListItem participant={participant} />
-              )}
-              action={() => (
-                <LowerAllHandsButton participants={raisedHandParticipants} />
-              )}
-            />
-          </Div>
+        {t('subheading').toUpperCase()}
+      </H>
+      {raisedHandParticipants.length > 0 && (
+        <Div marginBottom=".9375rem">
+          <ParticipantsCollapsableList
+            heading={t('raisedHands')}
+            participants={raisedHandParticipants}
+            renderParticipant={(participant) => (
+              <HandRaisedListItem participant={participant} />
+            )}
+            action={() => (
+              <LowerAllHandsButton participants={raisedHandParticipants} />
+            )}
+          />
+        </Div>
+      )}
+      <ParticipantsCollapsableList
+        heading={t('contributors')}
+        participants={sortedParticipants}
+        renderParticipant={(participant) => (
+          <ParticipantListItem participant={participant} />
         )}
-        <ParticipantsCollapsableList
-          heading={t('contributors')}
-          participants={sortedParticipants}
-          renderParticipant={(participant) => (
-            <ParticipantListItem participant={participant} />
-          )}
-        />
-      </Div>
-    </Box>
+      />
+    </>
   )
 }
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/hooks/useWidgetInteraction.ts b/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/hooks/useWidgetInteraction.ts
index 09f92cab..1c158709 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/hooks/useWidgetInteraction.ts
+++ b/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/hooks/useWidgetInteraction.ts
@@ -1,23 +1,25 @@
 import { useLayoutContext } from '@livekit/components-react'
 import { useSnapshot } from 'valtio'
-import { participantsStore } from '@/stores/participants.ts'
+import { layoutStore } from '@/stores/layout'
 
 export const useWidgetInteraction = () => {
   const { dispatch, state } = useLayoutContext().widget
 
-  const participantsSnap = useSnapshot(participantsStore)
-  const isParticipantsOpen = participantsSnap.showParticipants
+  const layoutSnap = useSnapshot(layoutStore)
+  const sidePanel = layoutSnap.sidePanel
+
+  const isParticipantsOpen = sidePanel == 'participants'
 
   const toggleParticipants = () => {
     if (dispatch && state?.showChat) {
       dispatch({ msg: 'toggle_chat' })
     }
-    participantsStore.showParticipants = !isParticipantsOpen
+    layoutStore.sidePanel = isParticipantsOpen ? null : 'participants'
   }
 
   const toggleChat = () => {
     if (isParticipantsOpen) {
-      participantsStore.showParticipants = false
+      layoutStore.sidePanel = null
     }
     if (dispatch) {
       dispatch({ msg: 'toggle_chat' })
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/prefabs/VideoConference.tsx b/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/prefabs/VideoConference.tsx
index 5504a370..c78a5632 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/prefabs/VideoConference.tsx
+++ b/src/frontend/src/features/rooms/livekit/prefabs/VideoConference.tsx
@@ -30,11 +30,11 @@ import {
 import { ControlBar } from './ControlBar'
 import { styled } from '@/styled-system/jsx'
 import { cva } from '@/styled-system/css'
-import { ParticipantsList } from '@/features/rooms/livekit/components/controls/Participants/ParticipantsList'
 import { useSnapshot } from 'valtio'
-import { participantsStore } from '@/stores/participants'
+import { layoutStore } from '@/stores/layout'
 import { FocusLayout } from '../components/FocusLayout'
 import { ParticipantTile } from '../components/ParticipantTile'
+import { SidePanel } from '../components/SidePanel'
 import { MainNotificationToast } from '@/features/notifications/MainNotificationToast'
 
 const LayoutWrapper = styled(
@@ -172,8 +172,8 @@ export function VideoConference({
   ])
   /* eslint-enable react-hooks/exhaustive-deps */
 
-  const participantsSnap = useSnapshot(participantsStore)
-  const showParticipants = participantsSnap.showParticipants
+  const layoutSnap = useSnapshot(layoutStore)
+  const sidePanel = layoutSnap.sidePanel
 
   return (
     <div className="lk-video-conference" {...props}>
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ export function VideoConference({
                 messageEncoder={chatMessageEncoder}
                 messageDecoder={chatMessageDecoder}
               />
-              {showParticipants && <ParticipantsList />}
+              {sidePanel && <SidePanel />}
             </LayoutWrapper>
             <ControlBar />
           </div>
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/locales/de/rooms.json b/src/frontend/src/locales/de/rooms.json
index ab9779e0..c06c160f 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/locales/de/rooms.json
+++ b/src/frontend/src/locales/de/rooms.json
@@ -73,10 +73,17 @@
       "effects": ""
     }
   },
+  "sidePanel": {
+    "heading": {
+      "participants": ""
+    },
+    "content": {
+      "participants": ""
+    },
+    "closeButton": ""
+  },
   "participants": {
-    "heading": "",
     "subheading": "",
-    "closeButton": "",
     "contributors": "",
     "collapsable": {
       "open": "",
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/locales/en/rooms.json b/src/frontend/src/locales/en/rooms.json
index 1a4baa71..294d2806 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/locales/en/rooms.json
+++ b/src/frontend/src/locales/en/rooms.json
@@ -71,10 +71,17 @@
       "effects": "Apply effects"
     }
   },
+  "sidePanel": {
+    "heading": {
+      "participants": "Participants"
+    },
+    "content": {
+      "participants": "participants"
+    },
+    "closeButton": "Hide {{content}}"
+  },
   "participants": {
-    "heading": "Participants",
     "subheading": "In room",
-    "closeButton": "Hide participants",
     "you": "You",
     "contributors": "Contributors",
     "collapsable": {
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/locales/fr/rooms.json b/src/frontend/src/locales/fr/rooms.json
index 587164b0..6f2379f3 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/locales/fr/rooms.json
+++ b/src/frontend/src/locales/fr/rooms.json
@@ -71,10 +71,17 @@
       "effects": "Appliquer des effets"
     }
   },
+  "sidePanel": {
+    "heading": {
+      "participants": "Participants"
+    },
+    "content": {
+      "participants": "les participants"
+    },
+    "closeButton": "Masquer {{content}}"
+  },
   "participants": {
-    "heading": "Participants",
     "subheading": "Dans la réunion",
-    "closeButton": "Masquer les participants",
     "you": "Vous",
     "contributors": "Contributeurs",
     "collapsable": {
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/stores/layout.ts b/src/frontend/src/stores/layout.ts
index bee6baed..70cb4e8d 100644
--- a/src/frontend/src/stores/layout.ts
+++ b/src/frontend/src/stores/layout.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ import { proxy } from 'valtio'
 
 type State = {
   showHeader: boolean
+  sidePanel: 'participants' | null
 }
 
 export const layoutStore = proxy<State>({
   showHeader: false,
+  sidePanel: null,
 })
diff --git a/src/frontend/src/stores/participants.ts b/src/frontend/src/stores/participants.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 0fdc7ed9..00000000
--- a/src/frontend/src/stores/participants.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-import { proxy } from 'valtio'
-
-type State = {
-  showParticipants: boolean
-}
-
-export const participantsStore = proxy<State>({
-  showParticipants: false,
-})