When contractors and developers in the UAE discuss curtain wall aluminium systems, three names come up most often: Schüco (Germany), Alumil (Greece), and Al Ghurair. The first two are premium European system houses with full international certification. The third is the UAE's own — Al Ghurair Resources Aluminium (GRAL), one of the largest aluminium producers in the Gulf, manufacturing curtain wall sections and facade profiles right here in the UAE. This guide explains what Al Ghurair curtain wall systems are, where they fit, and how Diamond Step® installs them across the Emirates.
A completed aluminium curtain wall facade — the type of installation Diamond Step® delivers using Al Ghurair system profiles for mid-range commercial projects across the UAE.
What is Al Ghurair Resources Aluminium (GRAL)?
Al Ghurair Resources Aluminium — commonly known as GRAL — is the aluminium manufacturing arm of the Al Ghurair Group, one of the UAE's largest and oldest business conglomerates. GRAL operates aluminium smelting and extrusion facilities producing aluminium billets, bars, and extruded profiles for the Gulf construction market and for export. Within the facade industry, GRAL profiles are used by UAE contractors for curtain wall mullions, transoms, capping sections, pressure plates, and related framing components.
The practical significance of GRAL for curtain wall projects in the UAE: their profiles are manufactured in the UAE, for UAE climate conditions, with no import lead time. For a contractor managing programme on a commercial project, local availability matters — stock exists in the UAE, custom extrusion runs turn around faster than overseas orders, and the profiles are anodised and powder-coated to Gulf-climate standards from the start.
Al Ghurair vs Schüco vs Alumil: Which System for Which Project?
This is the question developers and main contractors ask every time they price a commercial facade. Here is an honest answer:
Schüco (Germany) and Alumil (Greece)
Schüco and Alumil are certified European aluminium system houses. Their curtain wall systems are fully engineered and independently tested to European and international performance standards: EN 12152 (air permeability), EN 12154 (watertightness), EN 13116 (wind resistance), and thermal performance standards where specified. Their systems carry system supplier warranties and are the required specification on landmark buildings, government projects, and any project where the employer's brief names a certified performance level. The premium is real — longer lead times due to import logistics, higher material cost, and often a requirement to use the system supplier's approved fabricator. For the right project, that premium is justified.
Al Ghurair (GRAL) Curtain Wall Sections
Al Ghurair curtain wall aluminium sections are not a certified European system — they are UAE-extruded aluminium profiles that the fabricator engineers into a curtain wall assembly. Diamond Step selects the glass, seals, gaskets, thermal breaks, and fixings to suit the project specification. This approach gives more flexibility in system design and delivers a lower material cost with shorter lead times. It is the standard approach for the majority of commercial curtain wall projects in the UAE — office buildings, retail, showrooms, hotels, and mid-rise construction — where the specification does not mandate a named and certified European system.
The honest position: Al Ghurair sections are the appropriate choice for most commercial curtain wall projects in the UAE. Schüco and Alumil are the right specification when the employer's requirements demand certified system performance, on landmark or government buildings, or on very tall buildings where wind load and thermal performance requirements exceed what a standard fabricated assembly can deliver without full system certification.
What Diamond Step Builds with Al Ghurair Curtain Wall Profiles
Stick Curtain Wall Systems
The most common commercial application across the UAE. Al Ghurair mullion and transom profiles are cut, machined, and assembled on site into a stick curtain wall grid. Glass infill panels — typically Low-E double glazed units specified to meet UAE Solar Heat Gain Coefficient requirements — are set into the frame and sealed. Stick systems using Al Ghurair sections are the standard specification for low-to-mid rise commercial buildings across Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and the Northern Emirates.
Structural Silicone Glazing (SSG) Facades
Al Ghurair extrusion profiles are also used for structural silicone glazed facades — where the glass is bonded to the aluminium frame with structural silicone rather than captured in glazing beads. The result is a flush, frameless exterior face with no visible aluminium lines. Diamond Step designs and installs SSG assemblies using Al Ghurair framing sections on commercial buildings where the architect requires a clean, contemporary glass appearance without the cost of a fully certified European SSG system.
Commercial Shopfront and Podium Glazing
Al Ghurair aluminium sections are the default specification for commercial shopfront and entrance glazing systems throughout the UAE — a scope that Diamond Step handles regularly, from individual retail units to full commercial podium glazing on multi-storey developments.
How Diamond Step Delivers an Al Ghurair Curtain Wall Project
- Free site visit — we visit your building, assess the scope, and understand the specification requirements. No charge, no obligation.
- Quotation within 24 hours — priced with Al Ghurair section profiles unless you specify otherwise. We will tell you honestly if your project warrants a step up to a certified European system.
- Shop drawings — our engineering team produces full fabrication and installation drawings for client approval before any cutting or machining begins.
- Authority permits — Diamond Step manages the Dubai Municipality building permit, or the equivalent authority in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, or other emirates. We prepare the NOC, drawings, and energy compliance documentation.
- In-house fabrication — all profiles are cut, machined, and assembled in our own UAE workshop. We do not subcontract fabrication.
- Installation by our own team — all on-site work is carried out by Diamond Step's own employed workforce. One point of accountability from first fixing to final handover.