Gola Profile: The Handleless Cabinet Pull, Explained
A Gola profile is a recessed aluminium channel fitted between cabinet fronts, so a kitchen can run as an unbroken face of flat panels with nothing sticking out of it. Your fingers go into the channel. The channel does the job the handle used to do.
At a glance
| What it is | A recessed channel between fronts that replaces a handle |
|---|---|
| What it is made of | Usually extruded aluminium, in a finish chosen to sit back rather than stand out |
| The three shapes | C profile, L profile, top profile |
| What it changes | The height of every front in the run it sits in |
| When to decide it | Before you size any front |
What the word means
A handleless kitchen has to solve one problem: something has to give your hand purchase on a flat panel. Gola solves it by moving the grip off the front and into the gap between fronts. A channel is fitted where the shadow line would be, set back far enough that fingers fit, and the run reads as continuous because there is nothing projecting from it.
Because the grip lives in the gap rather than on the door, the fronts themselves stay completely plain, which is the whole point of the look.
The three shapes and where each goes
| C profile | Sits horizontally between two banks of fronts and is open on both sides, so the front above and the front below both reach into it. This is the one between a drawer bank and the run above it |
|---|---|
| L profile | Open on one side, used where only one front needs to reach in. It is the shape that sits under a run, or at the top of a bank where there is nothing above |
| Top profile | Closes the top of a tall run, meeting the underside of a worktop or the panel above it |
Our Gola profile configurator takes a cabinet layout and returns a front elevation plus a parts list with the C, L and top profile lengths, and it runs with nothing signed in.
Where it shows up
Settle the profile before you size a single front. The channel occupies real height in the elevation, so every front in that run is shorter by the height the profile takes plus the gaps around it. Decide it late and you size the fronts twice, which is the most common way a handleless job loses a day.
The shapes, the finishes, and the three different ways to build a kitchen with no pulls are in the Gola guide.
Common questions
What is a Gola profile?
An aluminium channel fitted between cabinet fronts that gives your fingers somewhere to go, so a kitchen can run as an unbroken face of flat panels with no handles on it. The channel does the job the handle used to do, and it hides in the shadow line between the fronts.
What are the C, L and top profiles?
Three shapes for three positions. The C profile sits horizontally between two banks of fronts and is open on both sides, so the front above and the front below both reach into it. The L profile sits under a run and is open on one side. The top profile closes the top of a tall run against the underside of a worktop or a panel above.
Does Gola change the size of my fronts?
Yes, and it is the thing to settle first. The channel occupies height in the elevation, so every front in that run is shorter by the height the profile takes plus the gaps around it. Set the profile before you size the fronts, or you size them twice.
Keep reading
A CabDesign glossary entry. Check every profile dimension against the extrusion you are actually buying before you size a front. Back to the glossary.