ignacio quemada arquitectos builds a winery into a spanish landscape

ignacio quemada arquitectos builds a winery into a spanish landscape
all images © duccio malagamba

‘campo viejo winery’ created by ignacio quemada arquitectos, lies on the plateau of the ebro river valley in spain, a land that is covered by 37 hectares of undulating vineyards. the construction is divided into two parts: the château-like visiting area located on the vineyard, and the winery that has been built into a hill resembling a work of land art, covering a surface area of 45,000sqm. traditional aspects on how wine should be made, aged and stored were taken into consideration when designing this contemporary space.

building the winery into the hill helps achieve the right conditions for making and aging wine

located at the edge of the plateau, the buried construction peeps out for some air and light, configuring the profile of the hill, timidly merging with the landscape. the earthy concrete façades, red like parts of the layers that appeared with the digging, are stacked up in a horizontal way, disproportionate in scale and tectonically intense. the ensemble seems to fade into the land, as if it had always been there, uncovered by the erosion which brought about the emergence of the reddish rock at the front, towards the river of the nearby mount cantabria. these earthy faces run on towards the inside of the winery, forming firstly the entrance yard, which, as tradition would have, polarizes all the accesses to the winery, and then on to the gallery and the cave, which articulate the building, and whose hollow paths lead out to the different spaces.

the reception and office buildings are accessed separately by a rural path across the vineyard

the buried winery consists of two volumes with two floors, housing the making and storage tanks (15,000sqm), and a second rectangular space which accommodates the cask aging area on the lower floor (12,000sqm), following the bottle aging, packaging and warehouse rooms on the top floor. these spaces feature common qualities: a well-ordered, modulated structure to leverage space and afford greater versatility, natural cross ventilation and control of the relevant constants. the smoke-grey walls and ceilings, and the indirect light which nuances the structure, provide the serene and tranquil ambience the wine needs.

a catwalk guides the visitors through the cask aging area that is a large vacuum, flanked by the bottle aging room

the reception and office buildings are accessed separately by a rural path across the vineyard. these installations, which span 1,000sqm, are located close to each other at the far northwest end of the hill, at the top of the latter, with magnificent views. the two clear volumes of stone and wood have terraces overlooking the landscape, guarding the vineyard and a country house at the same time. these areas protect the inside spaces on harsh days, and can be used to enjoy the good ones.

the earthy concrete façade ensemble seems to fade into the land 

the visit to the winery starts at the reception building, along a winding path, and culminates at the cask aging area, a large vacuum, flanked by the bottle aging room, which can be crossed by a catwalk, looking down to the barrels, leading up again to a terrace that looks out over to the landscape.

the gallery articulates the building with paths that lead to different spaces

The gallery, the cave, with the light coming from the outside. Photographer: Duccio Malagamba

Acces from the reception building. Photographer: Duccio Malagamba

the wine bar offers the tastings 

the terrace of the reception building

the reception building overlooks to the vineyard protecting the land

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edited by: juliana neira | designboom