Wine cellars have been transformed over the years creating a series of parallel activities to the operation of the vineyard that now mark a challenge of developing a program that allows that these two activities are carried out at the same time.


Viñedo De Coté is located in Ezequiel Montes, Querétaro, Mexico and presented this challenge to Serrano Monjaraz Arquitectos to resolve the work and visit needs in a fantastic site of 8 ac. The program should accommodate the operation and also ensure that visitors could walk through the vineyards, the tank room, bottling room and cellar in the basement. The exclusive spaces for visitors are: a bistro for tasting and for buying wine and edibles, as well as a multipurpose room with a restaurant for events, all these in a total of 16,000 ft.


The concept was generated favoring the process of making wine in which gravity is very important and taking advantage of the forms and ground levels in the site. The grapes are sent up to the roof in a large ramp to remove the stems and be pressed then they go down by gravity to the steel tanks and finally are left in barrels for aging. Once this process is completed the bottling begins and commercialization both on-site, as in various outlets.

A 19 ft deep basement was done to avoid the use of refrigeration and humidity control systems, taking advantage of geothermal excavation and economizing the energy use. With the earth obtained from excavation of the basement thousands of earth block were produced to build a grid of columns in 16 x 16 ft organized according to the trace of the lines of the vines.


The surrounding wall was done using perforations achieved with the insertion of wine glasses —a vital element for wine enjoyment— that opens to the four compass points and mark the main access towards the general entrances, the vineyard, the lake garden and the ramp next to the figs and olives orchard. This rectangular volume ends with a wooden and steel vault that refers to the traditional seal of the wine bottles.





  • Architect: Serrano Monjaraz Arquitectos

Posted by Juan Pablo Serrano

Serrano Monjaraz Arquitectos reaches 25 years developing architectural spaces where quality is achieved by the proper use of materials and light as creative elements. Being space their raw material, architects Juan Pablo Serrano Orozco and Rafael Monjaraz Fuentes, demonstrate their capability and performance in all architecture fields always supported by interdisciplinary teams. Their structure and professionalism has given them the opportunity to work in partnership with important firms as well as with national and international architects. They have been invited to national and international competitions and they actively participate in the formation and diffusion of architectural work. Architecture signifies their way to collaborate in the development of a better urban context because the correct design of spaces is the only way to create better cities. Their experience has been strengthened by the constant search of the perfect combination between form and structure. For them community is the backbone of the cities and buildings, in which settlers spend their day to day, these are the elements that help them contribute with spaces designed to improve the quality of life of their inhabitants. They have had the opportunity to design, direct and execute residential projects, restaurants, hotels, cultural centers and housing developments. The sensibility that they bring into their projects is the decanting of everything that they learn in their professional and personal activities. Light, materials and technology are combined in a perfect balance to create the living space around the inhabitant. Their awareness regarding the ecological balance and nature has been present in their projects since their inception and they consider that sustainability is not a trend but the only way to make architecture. They are members of the Green Building Council Chapter Mexico, to strengthen their contribution in the architectural scene designing buildings that have the highest energy performance standards. They have participated with their projects in various exhibitions in major countries like Mexico, United States, France, Singapore, Italy, Argentina, Ecuador, Sri Lanka, China, Australia, Greece and Spain, as well as in interviews and in various national and international magazines. They have received numerous awards and distinctions both in Mexico and abroad.

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *