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Anyone who thinks that a manufacturer of aluminum and plastic profiles is limited to factories and warehouses will know better after visiting the Spanish town of Padrón. Here, in green Galicia, the Spanish family company Cortizo has established a technological stronghold unparalleled in Europe. Our editor visited the Cortizo Technology Campus opened in the fall of 2024 and was impressed by the size, sustainability and technological know-how that come together here.
Some twenty kilometers south of the famous pilgrimage site of Santiago de Compostela, an architectural and technological marvel is unfolding: the Cortizo Technology Campus. On this site, where the Spanish family business began in 1972 as a small carpentry factory, Cortizo is showing how it has grown into an international market leader. “We wanted to create a place where innovation, design and sustainability reinforce each other. Not just for ourselves, but as a knowledge center for the entire frame and facade industry.” Speaking is Salvador Gonzalez, technical sales consultant Benelux. He normally runs Cortizo's showroom in Kampenhout, near Brussels, on a day-to-day basis.
Today he shows us that the campus consists of three impressive main buildings: a state-of-the-art laboratory cum test center, a spacious showroom and modern office spaces for over two hundred and fifty specialists. There is also a large auditorium, training studios and even a gym for employees. Designed by Miriam Cortizo, daughter of the founders, the complex exudes contemporary and sustainable architecture.
An important focal point of the campus is the 4,000 m² test center. Here new frame, window and facade systems are subjected to the toughest tests: wind and water tightness, acoustics, burglar resistance, fire safety and even extreme scenarios such as hurricane force and earthquakes.
“This in-house test center allows us to validate and improve prototypes much faster,” Gonzalez clarifies. “What can take months elsewhere because you depend on external labs, we do here in a fraction of the time. So we bring innovative products to market faster that meet the highest European requirements.”
Moreover, the lab was developed in close cooperation with ift Rosenheim, the renowned German research institute. “Especially for large curtain walls, they sometimes test here with us, because we have one of the largest test facilities in Europe,” Gonzalez says. The test center includes a life-size turbine that can simulate hurricane winds - a benchmark in Europe.
The new campus in Padrón is directly adjacent to the extensive production facilities for both aluminum and PVC profiles. Cortizo has an annual production capacity of some 150,000 tons of aluminum and 50,000 tons of PVC and now supplies more than 14,000 customers in 87 countries. Eleven years ago, in addition to aluminum profiles, the company started producing plastic profiles. This was a strategic move that made the product portfolio more complete.
What sets the company apart is that it has the entire production process in-house: from casting and extruding raw material to powder coating, anodizing, mechanical operations, packaging and distribution. “That vertical integration gives us tremendous quality control,” Gonzalez says. “We don't have to compromise because we do everything ourselves: from the raw material to the finished profile.”
The tour continues through the office complex, which is the heart of the campus. Here you will find separate departments for R&D, custom projects and an international sales team. Each department has its own focus, Freire Nande explains. The R&D department works continuously to improve catalog products and develops new systems with higher insulation values and slimmer profiles. The customization department supervises project-specific, custom-made systems that deviate from standard profiles. Think of tower buildings, unique facades or extremely large sliding doors. Finally, the sales team serves customers worldwide; above each desk proudly flies the flag of the country for which the employee in question is responsible. Gonzalez: “This direct cooperation between designers, engineers and sales accelerates the innovation cycle and ensures that Cortizo can respond quickly to local market requirements.”
One of the most impressive areas of the campus is the 2,600-square-meter showroom. Here, architects, contractors and frame manufacturers can experience the latest window and facade solutions up close. Gonzalez makes us aware of the Cor Vision Plus, the showroom's flagship product and also the best-selling product in the Benelux region. “Architects in Belgium and the Netherlands love the large areas of glass we make possible with this system,” he says.
“We are talking about sliding doors up to four meters wide and four meters high, with excellent thermal performance. That speaks enormously to the imagination.” In addition to the Cor Vision Plus, Cortizo is presenting its full portfolio here, including innovative minimalist sliding doors, passive house windows and modular facade systems.
The campus is not only technologically advanced, but also a model of sustainable construction. The complex is a smart building, fully equipped with advanced building management systems. It carries the European BREEAM certification and is also in the race for the American LEED label.
Solar panels on the roof power the entire site, rainwater is collected and reused, and automatically controlled blinds minimize cooling loads and energy consumption. In addition, the facades and windows are made of recycled aluminum, known as Infinity billet.
“We want to prove that aluminum can not only be used sustainably, but can also be fully circular,” Gonzalez said. “Everything you see here - from the facades to the window frames - is made from recycled materials.”
That circular vision will soon gain further momentum with the opening of a new recycling plant in Coirós, Galicia, with an annual process capacity of up to 100,000 tons. Here, post-consumer aluminum - from old windows, doors and facades - will be remelted into billets.
“With this new plant, we are completely closing the loop,” said a proud Gonzalez. “The 100 percent recycled aluminum is processed into our Infinity billet. This raw material for architectural aluminum systems significantly reduces the carbon footprint of our products and also makes us less dependent on primary aluminum production.”
The tour of the campus shows that Cortizo is much more than a producer of profiles. It is a knowledge center, an innovator and a paragon of sustainable architecture. “The future of windows and facades goes beyond aesthetics,” Gonzalez concludes. “It's about performance, sustainability and smart engineering. Here on campus, we bring all of that together.”
This much is clear after a visit to Padrón: what Santiago de Compostela has meant for pilgrims for centuries, the Cortizo Technology Campus seems to be becoming for the window frame industry: a destination you travel to for inspiration, knowledge and future vision. In doing so, Cortizo is emphatically putting itself on the map - not only in Spain, but throughout Europe and far beyond.
