Do not use one off oddball sizes under a ceiling too low for the standard 84” ones ones. If you want a built in, plan for the standard 84” size that will be easily replaceable with multiple choices. Even if you do choose the odball short size choice with fillers above. Locate it in the area where the ceiling is tall enough for the 84” choice, even if you have to redesign for that.

If a Liebherr refrigerator were required, I'd get the Liebherr CS2082 or Liebherr CBS2082. Thesehave finished sides so you could build a cabinet, plug in the refrigerator, and just shove it into place. Easy. For the future, numerous cabinet-depth refrigerators also require a 36"-wide opening (e.g., Beko, LG, Bosch, Samsung) so it shouldn't be difficult for someone to find a replacement for the Liebherr should it fail. I wouldn't worry about the height; a replacement can always be shorter. (Perhaps finish the inside of the cabinet so a replacement, freestanding refrigerator would look okay when installed.)

-- IMO

@Linda@icookinmykitchen.com: "Do not use one off oddball sizes under a ceiling too low for the standard 84” ones ones."

Why? Appliances Connection has 67* stainless steel 36", counter-depth refrigerators between 70" and 80" tall including models from Beko, LG, Bosch, and Samsung that could fit in a 36"-wide cabinet should the 80" Liebherr need replacement in the future.

*some would require a cabinet wider than 36" for required side air gaps

@Creative Cabinets: "You are confusing a discussion about built in refrigerators with counter depth ones."

I'm not confusing anything. The 80" Liebherr CS2082 or Liebherr CBS2082 can be installed freestanding or built in. The OP asked about the future. If she constructed a cabinet and inserted either of these models, he could replace it with one of 67 other (stainless steel) counter-depth refrigerators when it came time for replacement WITHOUT tearing up any cabinetry. The person who purchases the replacement may not want to spend a gazillion dollars for a 7-foot, fancy-pants, built-in refrigerator, preferring a counter-depth model he can just shove into the available space.

There's a few moving pieces here. The first, I suppose, is just how oddball the ~80" tall, less-deep-than-counter-depth refrigerators are. There's a difference in severity between "unable to find these measurements again, period" and "I can find it, but only two companies make one." So I guess what I'm really asking is if there's likely sufficient demand to keep a few manufacturers producing a (semi-)integrated fridge less than 84". Liebherr, Meile, and Fisher Paykel are all familiar names to me, so I got pretty excited to see that they all had one... but I don't really know if this is the kind of thing people who sell appliances have seen offered for many years now, or if finding one would be more of a lucky strike on my part.

If I need to plan for there always to be a plan B, I could possibly* follow Linda's recommendation by making sure to place the 80" inch + decorative piece--or just start right out the gate with an 84"'--refrigerator like so:

*I say possibly because I'm not very familiar with integrated refrigerator specifications, and I'm not sure if the ~1" shorter adjacent, tall cabinet I'd have under my soffit creates some kind of problem for installation or venting requirements.

This maybe looks a little goofy compared to just building a bank of cabinets 80 or 80.5" high that isn't trying to connect with that danged soffit--but at least it'd always be easy to find a replacement unit.

Of course, the other direction to go is WdCruise's plan. For this, I need to plan aisle width so that there's a future option to install a counter-depth refrigerator in the cabinetry opening. If someone doesn't want or cannot locate at any price a 36" wide, 78-80," ~25" or so deep refrigerator, they can always fall back to a counter-depth 33-36".

WdCruise's approach does away take the main advantage (for me) of biting the bullet for a refrigerator that is shallower than counter-depth: it's a little easier for me to fit in some cabinetry I want in my layout if I can get the refrigerator handles to fall less than 31-32" off from the wall. But if I need to plan always for retrofitting to a 31" deep counter-depth unit (once the handles are accounted for), then it may be sage to allow for a 31" deep refrigerator+42" aisles anyway, even if I don't chose to use all that space *right now*. The shallower/semi-integrated Liebherr, if I'm willing to invest in it, would principally get me some extra visual and physical space for as long as Liebherr et al are still making these refrigerators. An extra 5" is never a bad thing to have. The question would be how much I'm willing to pay for it.

Right now, all options are open because I'm simply wargaming and trying to understand what the refrigerator market/designs are really offering.