I’m sort of along the same lines as Brian. I’m looking at it like kitchen cabinets. You have two tall units and two short units. Construct each unit separately leaving the top of the tall units open. Attach them together from inside the small units then place your wood top on top of the tall units. You can add a shelf between the tall units using cleats, dowels or shelf supports. It would look nice with bun feet or similar “chunky” type feet.

Mandy