Tall Unit

A tall unit is a full-height cabinet, running from the floor to the same top line as the wall units above, built to house an integrated appliance such as a fridge freezer or a single or double oven rather than to store things directly. The carcass is the same 18mm melamine faced chipboard as a base or top cupboard, but built as one tall box instead of two separate ones, on adjustable legs like a base unit. The appliance sits inside the housing on fixed shelves or runners set at the height the manufacturer specifies, with the housing's own door, or a matching pair of doors above and below it, giving the front a single, continuous look rather than a visible metal box.

Housing the appliance The tall unit's carcass is built to the appliance manufacturer's housing dimensions, with ventilation gaps, cable and pipe routes, and fixing points already allowed for, so the appliance drops in and is trimmed to look built in rather than bolted on.

Carrying its own storage Above or below the appliance, a tall unit usually still keeps a cupboard or a pair of drawers, using the height an appliance alone would leave dead.

Keeping the run's sightline Built to the same door style and overall height as the rest of the kitchen, a tall unit lets an integrated fridge or oven sit inside the run without breaking up the wall of cabinetry with an exposed appliance front.

Wherever a fridge freezer or an oven is being fully integrated rather than left as a freestanding appliance. Typically at the end of a run, beside a base unit run, or flanking a corner, so the tall box doesn't interrupt the worktop.

Chosen from the same range as the rest of the cabinetry, sized to the specific appliance's housing dimensions from its own manufacturer instructions, not just its box size, since the ventilation gaps and hinge clearances vary by model. The door style, whether a single tall door or a split pair, is matched to the rest of the kitchen.

• The housing has to match the exact appliance, not just its outer dimensions: manufacturers specify ventilation gaps, especially behind and above a fridge freezer's compressor, that a too-tight housing will restrict.
• An integrated appliance mounts to the housing through its own door, which has to carry the cabinet door's weight as well as its own, so the hinges are specified to the combined weight.
• Services (an electrical spur, a plumbed water line for some fridges) need to be routed into the housing before the appliance is fitted.
• A single oven housing is normally set at a raised height for a comfortable reach, rather than at floor level like a fridge housing.

• Fridge / Oven the appliance the housing is built to fit, a separate element from the unit itself.
• Base unit sets the door style and carcass finish the tall unit matches.
• Worktop butts against the tall unit where it meets the run.
• Sockets and switches an appliance spur is usually routed into the housing from a nearby socket.