The sustainability and eco-architecture platform Ecoinventos has recently published an article dedicated to the Dominio D’Echauz Winery, a project that proposes an intervention fully integrated into its surroundings, where architecture disappears to allow the landscape to take precedence.

The article highlights how the building is embedded into the topography without imposition, respecting the terrain’s morphology and using the earth itself as an envelope. This approach helps optimize energy efficiency, improve interior thermal conditions, and reduce the visual impact of the structure within the natural setting of Castilla y León.

The publication also emphasizes the use of passive temperature control systems, low-impact materials, and natural light as the primary compositional strategy. In the words of the studio, this is an architecture that emerges from the place and for the place, maintaining a constant dialogue with the landscape, materiality, and light.

The winery not only meets the functional requirements of wine production but also offers a sensory and spatial experience for its visitors. From the entrance to the tasting room, the journey is designed as a sequence of spaces that combine technical precision with poetic sensitivity.

The article underlines how this project represents a way of inhabiting the land with respect, innovation, and sustainability.

Proyectar Magazine has published an interview with Fran Silvestre, CEO and partner of the studio, in its third issue. The feature offers an in-depth look into the working philosophy of Fran Silvestre Arquitectos: an architecture that combines precision, innovation, and a constant pursuit of effective beauty.

Throughout the conversation, Fran Silvestre reflects on the value of architecture that is not only aesthetic but also functional, durable, and capable of improving the lives of those who inhabit it. The systematization of processes, the mindful use of new technologies, and the integration of tools such as neuroarchitecture and Construction 4.0 are all part of a vision aimed at creating more sustainable, flexible, and human-centered spaces.

The interview also highlights the studio’s methodology, which always begins with teamwork and conceptual exploration, developing three design proposals for each commission. This strategy not only encourages creativity but also strengthens client involvement in the process.

“Perhaps our most important project, and the one I’m most proud of, is the studio itself and the people around it.”

The newspaper ABC has recently published an article analyzing the NIU system, developed by our studio Fran Silvestre Arquitectos, as a new way of understanding architecture through efficiency, precision, and design, among other contemporary construction systems.

NIU Houses was born as an architectural response that uses systematization as a tool to achieve an aesthetic, functional, and construction quality that is hard to reach through traditional processes.

The article highlights how the system is not based on building, but on assembling. Each part is previously designed, optimized, and produced in the workshop to be directly assembled on site. This approach minimizes errors, shortens timelines, reduces logistical costs, and ensures a precise and coherent final result.

Far from standardizing, controlled repetition becomes an opportunity to perfect every detail. The resulting spaces combine a refined aesthetic with comfort, sustainability, and high-quality living. The construction system is based on lightweight steel structure, high-performance thermal envelopes, and durable finishes. From the outset, interior design is integrated into the project, ensuring continuity between concept, function, and spatial experience.

According to the article, the concept of luxury has evolved: it is now associated with quality of life, natural light, energy efficiency, health, and well-being. In this regard, NIU represents a natural evolution, integrating tools such as neuroarchitecture, biophilic design principles, or circadian lighting to deliver a systematized architecture capable of generating unique, personalized, and environmentally responsible experiences.

“The future of systematized construction goes hand in hand with innovation and design. It is an evolution toward a smarter and more human architecture.”

You can read the full article on ABC here: Luxury homes are also opening up to industrialized construction – ABC

In the quiet interior of Castilla, an architectural piece emerges—not one that imposes itself, but one that gently settles into the landscape. More than a typical winery, it is conceived as a place for the research and recovery of ancestral grape varieties.

This is a space where, through a process of microvinification, small experimental productions are crafted to evaluate the potential of forgotten or unclassified vines. Like a kind of winemaking Noah’s Ark, the winery not only hosts the research of Vitis Navarra but also safeguards and preserves the genetic biodiversity of grapevines in Spain, including species that still survive on the margins of the landscape and time.

The architecture gently rests on the topography of Zayas de Báscones, blending with the geometries of the land and the slow rhythm of cultivation. The two curved walls that structure the winery are inspired by the layout of the surrounding vineyards and their terrain, generating an enclosure that defines the space and allows it to be built in a natural way.

The longitudinal layout of the proposal follows the sequence of the wine production process: from the arrival of the grapes and destemming, through fermentation in steel tanks, aging in oak barrels, and finally, bottling. This linear path expands at specific points to integrate a social and tasting area, as well as spaces dedicated to research and storage, always maintaining the functional logic of the winemaking process. These walls, built with hempcrete blocks—a mix of plant fibers, lime, and water—laid on edge, gain greater structural inertia thanks to their curved geometry and are reinforced by a lightweight, single-pitch metal roof. All construction elements are unified through a continuous projection of white Diathonite, a natural cork-based mortar used on walls, floors, and ceilings. This system not only contributes to a unified and natural appearance but also provides significant thermal inertia, essential for maintaining stable interior conditions and supporting the optimal development of the wine during its aging process.

The Basajaun collection, named after the mythological figure who protected the forest, represents a space of transition: between what is known and what is yet to be discovered, between the agrarian past and a new way of understanding the relationship between architecture, nature, and wine culture. It is not only about storing wine, but about preserving life, diversity, and memory. A contemporary refuge for the ancient wisdom of the vine.

The studio’s new project in Cambrils is now under construction. The design is configured as a superposition of two bold volumes, with a slight shift in the first floor that creates covered terraces and orients the upper floor toward views of the Mediterranean Sea.

Two opaque faces of each volume serve as structural supports, allowing the façades to be completely freed and opened toward the garden through large windows that emphasize the horizontal nature of the composition.

Our studio has been recognized as the number one architecture studio in Spain in the annual ranking published by Architizer, one of the world’s most influential platforms for contemporary architecture.

Headquartered in New York, Architizer connects over 100 million architects, designers, and developers each year with projects that are redefining the global architectural landscape. Its ranking, updated on April 4th, 2025, identifies the leading studios in the industry based on design excellence, innovation, and international recognition, serving as a benchmark for clients and institutions alike.

In Spain’s case, the analysis is framed within a particularly rich historical and cultural context. From Mudéjar heritage and Catalan modernism to the democratic movements of the late 20th century, Spanish architecture has played a key role in international architectural discourse, with figures such as Antoni Gaudí, Rafael Moneo, and Oriol Bohigas. Today, the studios featured in this ranking continue to project that legacy into the contemporary landscape through innovation and design.

Our project Villa Noon has been featured in the Financial Times – How To Spend It, one of the most influential international publications, particularly in the fields of luxury, architecture, and contemporary lifestyle.

This prestigious British outlet, known for its rigor and authority, highlights in its article how Villa Noon represents a new generation of homes that combine sustainability with high-level architecture.

The feature explores the growing interest in self-sufficient homes that do not compromise on design, and it emphasizes a global trend towards what they call “eco-luxury”: homes that incorporate advanced energy systems, extreme efficiency, and innovative solutions for water use and natural resource management. In this context, Villa Noon stands out as a unique case thanks to its holistic approach, its ability to operate independently from traditional networks, and its commitment to passive house standards.

The renowned Valencian artist Antonio Camaró, named by UNESCO as “the painter of harmony and peace among civilizations,” has visited our studio and gave us a very special gift: a personalized artwork for each member of the team.

Camaró holds a degree in Fine Arts from the Polytechnic School of San Carlos in Valencia and has complemented his education with studies in Image and Sound, as well as in Social and Cultural Anthropology. His artistic career is marked by a deep commitment to human values, intercultural understanding, and reflection on the human condition. His expressive and symbolic style blends classical and contemporary influences, focusing on themes such as truth, identity, spirituality, and coexistence.

His work has been exhibited in numerous cities such as Paris, Geneva, Rome, and Amsterdam, and has been part of significant events such as the 50th anniversary of May ’68 in France and the tribute to Martin Luther King held in Geneva. He also leads the Antonio Camaró Foundation, an organization that promotes art as a tool for intercultural dialogue and social transformation.