Tierra Tinta Winery / COA Arquitectura

Architects: COA Arquitectura
Area: 1,540 m²
Photographs: César Béjar
Project credits: Francisco Gutiérrez
Project Manager: Catalina Joya
Collaborators: Tania Robles, María Morales, Edgar Ramírez
Structural Engineering: CEROMOTION, Juan Jesús Aguirre
City: Aguascalientes
Country: Mexico

Tierra Tinta Winery, a winery designed by COA Arquitectura in Mexico has transformed the landscape with its innovative use of natural and industrial materials. The winery comprises three buildings arranged in a loose triangle, each boasting a distinctive sawtooth roof made from corrugated steel and walls of rammed earth. This architectural choice not only respects the agricultural traditions of the area but also creates a series of enclosed spaces and open apertures that connect visitors to the surrounding vineyard, Cerro del Muerto mountain, and a nearby lake.

COA Arquitectura, the Mexican studio, completed Tierra Tinta Winery outside Guadalajara, featuring a corrugated steel sawtooth roof and rammed earth walls. Situated in Aguascalientes, the winery spans 16,576 square feet (1,540 square meters) and consists of three buildings. These include the main winery with a tasting room and cellar, separate restroom facilities, and a future restaurant site, all arranged in a loose triangular formation.

The studio strategically positioned each building diagonally to create enclosed areas and openings towards the landscape, which includes views of a vineyard, Cerro del Muerto mountain, and a small lake. The buildings are characterized by their rammed-earth walls. These walls are either freestanding, square, or C-shaped, and complemented by metal and wood infills.

At the heart of the site, desert vegetation such as cacti and olive trees is interspersed among stone benches, doubling as retaining walls. Visitors enter the main winery through a narrow gap between the robust earth walls, leading to an open courtyard. This space is divided into two main volumes: one houses the production facilities and the other accommodates a tasting room with outdoor seating.

A sawtooth steel roof spans the entire length of the facilities, exposed and not covered by the stone walls on its distant side. The studio described the nave as being roofed with corrugated steel sheets in a sawtooth shape, which captures light from the north through a steel door-window facade.

Both areas feature slatted overhangs that cover glass doors along their entire lengths. The tasting room is designed with a rough wooden plank floor, bar, and ceiling, and opens directly onto a patio suspended over the lake.

The studio noted that the interior space features flooring made from train sleepers and a wooden ceiling, designed to create a warm atmosphere. The space contains only four key elements: a wardrobe attached to the wall, a pair of counter tables, and a steel cylinder with a rear opening that leads to a spiral staircase descending to the cellar.

The tasting room’s staircase descends into the cellar, located beneath the production facilities, and opens into a spacious, subterranean tasting area. The studio explained that once downstairs, a serpent-shaped pathway guides visitors away from natural light, enhancing the dramatic impact of their arrival in the space.

The basement space is supported by pillars extending along its length, flanked by a steel wall and earthen walls on each side. Above, a slated ceiling spans the entire area, interspersed with cylindrical, steel-covered lighting pendants.

These lights hang above a long wooden table that faces rows of wine barrels resting on wooden tracks atop a gravel floor. Adjacent to this, the same rough-hewn floorboards form a small platform. The studio described the space as including a cabinet filled with bottles, boulders moistened by water droplets, a countertop, and wine barrels on the floor, all creating the ideal atmosphere for wine maturation and enjoyment. In other areas, the same narrow access is mirrored in the earthen walls of the restroom outbuilding and the future restaurant.

An open courtyard in the restroom building provides access to each bathroom, which features a long, suspended steel sink and stalls with wooden doors. Natural stone walls and a steel roof finalize the design of the space.