Lift-slide door plastic or aluminum?

Hello dear forum,

I would like to get your expert/feminine/masculine advice:

We need a lift-and-slide door for our extension as an exit to the garden. The whole thing is to be fitted into a rough opening of 2510 mm by 2260 mm.

Our architect is now strongly advising us to make this lift-and-slide door out of aluminum (Schüco profiles). From a purely financial perspective, I personally tend toward windows made of plastic. At the moment, however, I have no manufacturer in mind or experience with the quality of plastic windows. Our architect's argument is that plastic windows, especially with such "large surfaces," often warp and we would have problems with them within a few years at the latest.
However, I think that thousands of homeowners are installing even larger plastic sliding doors (the sliding panel is only about 125 cm wide) and have no problems with them. By the way, we do not want wooden windows due to the increased maintenance effort.

Can you name window manufacturers with whom you have had good experiences in this regard? Or should we bite the bullet and accept Schüco profiles at about a 1/4 higher price? Maybe there are other alternatives?

We would really appreciate your help!

Regards,
Brufi

We have a lift-and-slide door here - also 2.50m wide - made of plastic. And no one has advised us against it. Much larger sliding doors are still made of plastic. If there were any relevant problems, we would have heard something by now. And 2.50 is still one of the smaller sliding doors. In aluminum, I would be more concerned about the ease of sliding the door when opening.

Even plastic windows have a metal core on the inside, so warping is theoretically possible. However, I have white windows, and the sliding element to the terrace is still fully functional, even though the year of construction is 1980. Whether it can be different with dark plastic, I cannot judge, but I would suspect that metal can warp just as well. It probably expands more under heat exposure than plastic; at least the windows in our company are made of metal (blue), and some windows do sometimes stick a bit. My windows and those of my parents are from Darolet, but as far as I know, the company no longer exists. My uncle sold them to us back then, and we have no problems, neither with warped frames nor with blind panes or increased yellowing. The only disadvantage is the black "mourning edges" that frame the panes. They still stain when cleaning the windows, but they are still perfectly fine.

We have a 2.70 wide and 2.30 high sliding door. Made with Schüco elements and out of plastic. Works perfectly.

@ Koempy

you mean you have two sliding doors, one made of Schüco aluminum and one made of plastic and both are flawless?
Is the plastic door easier to open than the aluminum door?

@ Koempy

you mean you have two sliding doors, one made of Schüco aluminum and one made of plastic, and both are flawless?
Is the plastic door easier to open than the aluminum door?

No, only one door. It is 2.30 m high and 2.70 m wide, although about 18 cm of the 2.30 m are hidden in the floor.
The lift-and-slide door is very easy to open. Not to be confused with a tilt-and-slide door.