Insurgente Brewery

As Tijuana’s craft beer culture has grown into a symbol of regional creativity and cultural diversity, this facility has become a landmark destination—helping elevate Baja California’s culinary identity and reinforcing the city’s emergence as a cross-border cultural and economic hub.

The design concept puts the beer-making process on display, creating a fully immersive visitor experience across three levels. Visitors engage with brewing operations through exposed glycol tubes at the entry, mezzanine seating that overlooks brewers at work, and rooftop skylights that double as tabletops, offering views into the facility below. A 360-degree rooftop view of the Tijuana skyline connects the building to the city’s rapidly evolving urban fabric.

Beyond brewing, Insurgente Brewery has become a gathering place, hosting public events, music performances, and guided tours that contribute to a broader cultural dialogue in Tijuana. It reflects a new, forward-looking identity for the city: one rooted in craft, creativity, and positive urban transformation.

The building’s sustainability strategy uses passive design and thermal mass to reduce energy consumption:

• Stainless steel framing and poured in place concrete construction provides natural insulation, especially for the cold room.

• Energy modeling during design informed the strategic placement of high-load equipment like fermentation tanks and cooling systems.

• An exterior perforated metal stair shields glazing from solar gain, reducing interior heat buildup.

• Natural ventilation and roof-mounted exhaust fans passively cool occupied spaces—avoiding the use of mechanical HVAC except for the cold room.

Client
Cerveceria Insurgente / Insurgente Brewery

Location
Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Status
Phase one completed (2014), phase two completed (2018)

Role
Design Architect / Architect

Scope
Brewing Facility, tap room, rooftop beer garden, retail

Number of floors
3

Size
6,500 SF

Delivery method
Design–Bid-Build

Construction materials
Concrete, steel, perforated metal

Construction type
Type II-B

Construction cost
Confidential

Photography
Onnis Luque