Two names dominate the UK premium aluminium market: Schüco and Cortizo. Both make excellent windows and doors. They compete for the same architects and the same clients. Here's a side-by-side that isn't sponsored by either.

The manufacturers themselves

Schüco is a German manufacturer, founded 1951, with a very large UK residential and commercial presence. The residential range is engineered in Germany and fabricated through an authorised UK dealer network.

Cortizo is a Spanish manufacturer, founded 1975, that has grown rapidly in the UK residential premium segment over the past decade. Fabrication also runs through an authorised UK dealer network.

Both companies publish full Declaration of Performance documentation. Both hold PAS 24 and Secured by Design certifications on relevant residential systems. Both are financially stable, with mature warranty support.

Sightlines

This is where the comparison usually starts. Cortizo has built a reputation on slim sightlines — the COR Vision system in particular achieves a meeting sightline as slim as ~20mm. Schüco's ASE 80 Panorama hits ~30mm.

For most window and door configurations, the Cortizo systems are a few millimetres slimmer than Schüco at equivalent thermal performance. In real-world visual impact on a typical residential door, that difference is real but small. In architecturally-driven contemporary projects, it can be decisive.

Thermal performance

Both manufacturers reach comparable U-values in their premium systems. Schüco AWS 90.SI+ achieves Uw down to ~0.7 W/m²K. Cortizo's top-tier residential windows are in the same range. Neither has a meaningful advantage.

Hardware

Schüco's residential hardware is highly refined and consistently well-supported by the UK dealer network. Cortizo's hardware is technically excellent and equally well-supported, but the depth of UK spares availability is marginally shallower — a function of the UK network being newer.

Dealer network and lead times

Schüco's UK dealer network is denser and older. If you're in Hertfordshire and need a Schüco system, there are multiple authorised fabricators within a short drive. Cortizo's UK network is growing quickly but is less dense in some regions. Lead times are broadly comparable at 6–10 weeks for standard configurations.

Warranty

Both manufacturers offer 10-year warranties on the aluminium and frame construction; both have 5–10 year warranties on moving parts depending on the specific system. The warranty runs through the fabricator, and its practical value depends on the fabricator's continued operation. This is one place where the maturity of Schüco's UK dealer network genuinely matters.

Price

Broadly comparable. At the mid-market — Schüco AWS 75 vs Cortizo COR 60 windows, for instance — prices are within 5–10% of each other. At the premium end, Cortizo's slim systems can command a small premium for the architectural sightline advantage. In neither direction is the price difference the deciding factor.

Where each is the better choice

Choose Schüco when:

Choose Cortizo when:

Editorial verdict

Both are excellent. This is not a case where one manufacturer is clearly better. The Schüco range has slightly better UK dealer maturity; the Cortizo range has slightly slimmer sightlines. Match the manufacturer to the project's priorities rather than defaulting to whichever a supplier happens to stock.

Where to see both locally

5EC Aluminium is one of the fabricators covering St Albans and Hertfordshire that quotes both Schüco and Cortizo alongside each other, which is useful for direct comparison. Their Hertfordshire showroom displays both manufacturers.

Related reading

See our AWS 90.SI+ review for the Schüco premium window system in detail, and our AS FD 75 guide for the Schüco folding door.