Set among the vineyards of the Uco Valley and facing the Andes, La Vigilia Winery combines four solid volumes of black-pigmented concrete with oxidized metal, controlled natural light and a sequence of spaces that separates the technical demands of wine production from the slower experience of visitors.

 

La Vigilia Winery in Mendoza by González Olsina & Vega Arquitectos is located within The Vines of Mendoza in Los Chacayes, Tunuyán, approximately 85km southwest of the city of Mendoza. Completed in 2022, the 1,700m² winery forms part of a wine and gastronomic destination together with the nearby ROPE Restaurant, with vineyards and the Andes establishing the wider context for the architecture.

The project is conceived around a dual condition: a technically precise production building and, at the same time, a more contemplative setting associated with the culture and temporality of wine. Production, storage, tasting and meeting spaces are therefore organized within a clear system of volumes and circulation routes, while material, light and shadow regulate the transition between the open landscape and the more enclosed interior.

 

Four solid volumes

The public programme is organized around four equidistant volumes of black-pigmented concrete.

They accommodate the entrance hall, tasting room, meeting room and production offices, while a precise internal circulation system connects the different functions and separates the movement of staff from that of visitors.

This organization allows the working areas to operate directly and efficiently, while the visitor route develops more gradually.

The winery is therefore not experienced as a single open hall. A sequence of spaces introduces different levels of enclosure, orientation and visual contact with the production process and the surrounding landscape.

 

A slower route for visitors

The project distinguishes between two forms of arrival.

Access to the productive areas is direct, responding to the operational requirements of the winery. The visitor approach, by contrast, is extended into a deliberate sequence connected with the gardens, vineyards and distant mountain range.

At the main entrance, repeated vertical planes form a semi-covered threshold. Solids and voids establish a measured rhythm of movement, light and shadow before the interior is revealed.

Axis and proportion reinforce the clarity of the route, while the alternating vertical elements give depth to the otherwise low and horizontal composition.

 

Production at the centre

The productive core occupies the centre of the building.

Wine is produced and aged in vessels made of concrete, ceramic and terracotta, creating a working environment where different techniques and stages of the process remain spatially concentrated.

A laboratory is positioned within a Vierendeel beam above the production space. From this elevated position, technical work can take place with direct visual control over the different stages below.

The arrangement combines the practical requirements of production with a clear architectural section, turning observation of the process into part of the internal spatial organization.

 

Black concrete and oxidized metal

The material palette reinforces the weight and horizontal presence of the building within the vineyard.

Externally, black-pigmented concrete gives the volumes a dense and restrained character against the openness of the landscape. Above them, an oxidized metal crown introduces warmer golden and earthy tones, establishing a chromatic relationship with the vineyard, particularly with the changing colour of the leaves during autumn.

Inside, natural concrete receives a bush-hammered finish that exposes its mineral aggregate and gives the surfaces a rougher, less uniform character.

The contrast between the dark exterior concrete, weathered metal and more tactile interior surfaces establishes variation without expanding the material palette unnecessarily.

 

Light as part of the spatial sequence

Natural light is tightly controlled throughout the winery.

At the entrance, sunlight passes between the repeated vertical planes, producing alternating bands of brightness and shadow along the approach. Inside, lower light levels create a more concentrated environment around the production and ageing areas.

The project uses this contrast to distinguish the openness of the vineyard from the controlled conditions required within the building.

Rather than illuminating every area uniformly, light is used selectively to reveal material surfaces, direct movement and differentiate the successive spaces.

 

Architecture between production and landscape

La Vigilia Winery is ultimately structured by the relationship between technical function, landscape and a carefully controlled visitor experience.

Its compact volumes contain the practical requirements of winemaking, while the entrance sequence, tasting areas and circulation spaces slow down the movement through the building and maintain an awareness of the vineyards and Andes beyond.

González Olsina & Vega Arquitectos use black concrete, oxidized metal, repeated vertical planes and controlled light to establish a winery whose architectural identity emerges directly from production, material and territory rather than from applied imagery.

A Cut in the Landscape

The architectural proposal for a winery in Aidipsos, Evia, begins with the question of how a building of substantial scale can become part of the landscape. Given the area required for the production facilities, the winery is embedded into the hillside, absorbed by the terrain and incorporated into the vineyard, acquiring an intentionally chthonic character.

The underground solution serves more than a compositional purpose. The stable temperatures and controlled humidity of the subsoil create conditions suited to the maturation and aging of wine, allowing the building’s relationship with the earth to become part of the production process itself.

 

 

One line and one circle

At ground level, the architectural intervention is reduced to two traces: a line and a circle.

The linear production building is concealed behind the sloping wall of its only visible elevation. The circle, by contrast, forms a central open-air plaza overlooking the vineyard. Conceived as a crater, it interrupts the repetitive parallel lines of cultivation and becomes the principal point of reference within the composition.

While the building follows the rhythmic furrows of the cultivated terrain, the circle acts as a precise geometric incision. Its archetypal form introduces a deliberate interruption into the continuity of the vineyard, establishing a dialogue between architecture and landscape.

Descending into the winemaking process

The visitor’s journey begins among the rows of vines. Guided by the geometric alignment of the plants, a subtle cut in the landscape gradually reveals the presence of the building as an underground refuge.

The elongated entrance becomes an interior route that follows the course of wine production. Beyond the reception area, a large circular staircase descends to the winery’s main level, where the visitor moves between the barrels of the shadowy aging hall, the production areas, the transparent fermentation room with its tall stainless-steel tanks, and the bottling and storage spaces.

The coolness of the earth, the humidity, the silence and the scent of must intensify the experience of the descent. Architecture and production are encountered simultaneously, allowing the route through the building to become a progressive introduction to the making of wine.

 

 

From darkness back to light

The journey continues into an almost mystical tasting room. A vaulted ceiling slab, inclined walls and indirect natural light create a cave-like retreat, isolated from the surrounding sounds. Gravel underfoot becomes the only interruption, echoing with every step.

The sequence reaches its climax at the opening of the circular crater. Here, the visitor encounters daylight again and the view returns to the vineyard—the origin of the wine and the landscape from which the building itself emerges.

The circular plaza becomes a place of pause and contemplation, completing a journey of descent into the earth and re-emergence into the light. In this way, the architectural experience mirrors the transformative process of winemaking itself.

 

Originally published in ek magazine 299 | July–August 2025.

A Winery Rooted in the Agricultural Landscape

In Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France, Les Terres Blanches Winery by JSPA Design is conceived as a multi-layered project within a predominantly rural and agricultural setting. The proposal includes the creation of a new wine cellar, the extension of an existing winery to increase production capacity, the addition of a shop and the development of new public event spaces.

The design establishes a clear relationship between the existing architecture and the new intervention. Rather than producing a single large object, the project creates a coherent whole through scale, typology and material continuity, allowing the extension to become part of the broader landscape of the village.

Four Volumes Around a Patio

The different functions of the winery are organized into four distinct volumes around a central patio. This fragmented arrangement gives the project a scale closer to the surrounding built environment, helping the new complex integrate into the existing village fabric.

The old and new parts of the winery are connected only through an underground passage. This allows the existing building and the new extension to remain visually distinct, placed side by side without direct contact, while still operating as a unified production and visitor experience.

 

 

Rammed Earth as Structure, Texture and Climate Strategy

The compacted earth walls give the project its defining material character. Traditional in origin but contemporary in expression, rammed earth allows the winery to establish a direct relationship with the ground, the local landscape and the agricultural identity of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Beyond its visual and tactile qualities, the material contributes to the environmental performance of the building. Its thermal and acoustic properties support the stable conditions required for wine production and storage, while reinforcing the sense of continuity between architecture and site.

Water as an Organizing Element

Water circulation is one of the main drivers of the design. Cantilevered structures direct rainwater absorbed by the green roofs toward a pool in the central patio, where it is collected. Narrow slits along the patio allow excess water to drain toward the underground wine cellar and eventually into a cistern for future use.

Through natural evaporation, the collected water helps maintain the humidity level required for the proper conservation of wine throughout the year. In this way, water is not treated as a secondary technical system, but as an architectural and environmental mechanism embedded in the project.

 

 

An Underground Cellar of Light and Shadow

The wine cellar is located underground, benefiting from a more constant temperature. Its atmosphere is shaped by low levels of natural light entering through thin openings in the slab above.

These fine cuts produce sequences of shadow and light, giving the cellar depth and a sense of mystery. The visitor experience becomes immersive: architecture supports not only production and storage, but also the sensory culture of winemaking.

A Contemporary Rural Typology

Les Terres Blanches Winery proposes a contemporary interpretation of local materials and rural forms. Its rammed-earth walls, fragmented massing, green roofs and water-management strategy create a project that is both technical and atmospheric.

The winery becomes a place where production, landscape, public experience and environmental performance are brought together. Through its careful balance of old and new, visible and underground, earth and water, the project offers a grounded model for sustainable wine architecture.