Kesseböhmer Dispensa: How the Larder Frame Holds 8 Baskets in a 300-Millimetre Column

A 300mm larder column gives the Dispensa very little room to work. After two 18mm cabinet sides are taken out of the nominal width, the opening is roughly 264mm, and the moving hardware has to clear the carcass with about 2mm spare on each side. Kesseböhmer uses that space by putting a rigid centre mast between the cabinet base and top, then hanging two wing carriers from it. Pulling the front handle brings the wing baskets forward and outward while the mast provides the fixed spine for the mechanism. With four vertical basket pairs, the 300mm version reaches the advertised total of eight steel baskets.

The 300mm carcass sets the working envelope

Cabinet widths are quoted as nominal sizes. In an 18mm melamine-faced chipboard unit, a 300mm cabinet becomes a clear opening of about 264mm, and the usable envelope for the Dispensa mast, baskets and swing arc is closer to 260mm. Kesseböhmer builds the 300 variants of the Dispensa junior and Dispensa classic around that envelope, using baskets around 230mm wide and side rails shaped to clear the hinge line as the wings rotate.

The baskets move in staged groups. Rear baskets ride on the mast, front baskets ride on the wings, and the wing pivot sits forward of the mast centreline. As the door is pulled, the front baskets come out and swing aside, opening access through the throat of the cabinet to the rear baskets. That geometry is what lets a 300mm column carry eight baskets while still allowing access to a jar at the back without lifting items over head height. A conventional pull-out larder at the same width would usually give perhaps five baskets on one lift-and-lower frame, with the lowest level harder to see and reach.

Fixing the frame so it stays plumb

On tall pull-outs, frame twist from a flexing base causes the common failure usually blamed on the runner. The Dispensa mast has a footplate that belongs on the cabinet floor, with load going into the base panel instead of the adjustable legs. Kesseböhmer specifies fixing into a base panel of at least 16mm. A carcass with a thin bottom trapped in a groove needs reinforcement before the frame is fitted.

The top of the mast locates into a bracket screwed to the underside of the cabinet top or to a fixed rail. Set the mast plumb in both planes with a spirit level before fixing that top bracket. A lean of two degrees is enough to make the upper baskets touch one carcass wall by the time the stack reaches basket eight.

The frame is supplied height pre-set for standard 2000mm-plus tall units. Basket spacing is taken from slotted positions in the mast, generally with intervals suited to tinned goods on lower levels and taller bottles above. Each basket carrier slides onto the mast and locks with the supplied clip. Working from the bottom upward lets the weight settle into the frame as each pair is added.

Soft-close in the last part of travel

The 300mm Dispensa includes an integrated damper on the closing stroke. A loaded frame slows through the final 40mm, so the door front returns to the carcass without a slam.

The damper is supplied ready to work. If it fails to catch the closing stroke, the unit is faulty.

How it compares with a drawer-based larder

Blum Legrabox drawer boxes make a strong alternative in many kitchen layouts. They offer full-extension steel-sided boxes on concealed Tandem runners, soft-close as standard and a smooth action that suits a 600mm base cabinet very well. In a 300mm tall larder, the reach problem changes the comparison.

A drawer presents its contents from above. A 300mm-wide drawer that is 500mm deep asks the user to lean over and look down into a narrow slot, and anything at the rear of a top drawer near eye height can disappear from view. Building eight separate Legrabox boxes into a tall cabinet also means buying and fitting eight runner pairs, aligning eight fronts, and giving up vertical space to drawer box sides and the gaps between levels. The Dispensa baskets act as open trays that swing into view, so contents can be read from the front while standing normally.

That access has clearance costs. The swinging wings need space in front of the cabinet, and a single door front means one handle opens the whole arrangement. A drawer stack lets one level open in isolation, while the Dispensa exposes all eight baskets whenever it is pulled. In a tight galley with an opposite run under 900mm away, the swing path matters because the front baskets can project 300 to 350mm beyond the cabinet face when fully open. In an alcove with the cupboard boxed into masonry on both sides, the forward projection is usually workable; the catch point is more often a door meeting an adjacent appliance.

Kesseböhmer gives the Dispensa baskets a substantial per-basket rating, enough for tinned tomatoes and glass bottles in normal larder use, and the mass is spread through the mast footplate into the cabinet base. Legrabox capacity depends on the runner class for each drawer, and a deep box loaded with tins can reach that runner limit sooner than expected. Heavy stock stored low in a tall cabinet loads the Dispensa mast and footplate directly into the carcass structure, while independent drawer runners cantilever from the side walls.

Panel connectors have to make the carcass square

The frame geometry depends on a true carcass. Melamine-faced chipboard larder cabinets are typically assembled with cam-and-dowel fittings, Hafele Rafix or Minifix cams pulling onto steel dowels, or proprietary push-fit connectors that snap panels together without visible cam holes on the show face. Those connectors set the cabinet before the Dispensa ever moves inside it.

Diagonal equality is the practical test. Measure both diagonals of the assembled front opening; if they differ by more than 2mm across a 2000mm tall cabinet, the frame is likely to bind during travel. Correction happens while the carcass is still being tightened. Clamp it to a known-square reference and tighten the cams in sequence, top and bottom before the middle. A 4mm rack at the top opening can make basket eight scrape through its travel.

The order of operations that works on site

Installers who fit these units regularly build the carcass first, square it, hang and align the door, then fit the frame. Setting the frame before the door leaves no reliable reference for basket-to-front alignment.

Start with the mast footplate on the reinforced base. Plumb the mast against a level held on two faces, then fix the top bracket. Clip on the basket carriers from the bottom, checking after each pair that the unloaded frame still completes its full stroke by hand. The check is quick, and it catches rubs before the weight of tins and bottles hides the source of the problem.

The wing arms then connect to the door bracket, which is the coupling that makes the door pull the frame. This bracket adjusts in three directions and is the place to remove the last millimetre of basket-to-carcass rub. Load the baskets last, with the heaviest items low, and cycle the mechanism a dozen times so the damper and hinges settle under real weight.

On a Dispensa unit the door travels with the frame through the door bracket, using the front as the pull face for the whole mechanism. Ordinary soft-close cabinet hinges belong on a conventional larder door; in this build, the carcass side has no hinge plate to receive.