Along Chennai’s coastline, Billboards designs Eventide Coffee as a response to its surroundings… where light, sea, and spatial openness come together to shape the experience of the cafe.
Curated by: Deepa Nair
Photographs: Phosart Studio; courtesy Billboards
The brief
“From the beginning, the brief was never about creating a statement café,” share architects Arun Prabhu NG and Vincy Victors, principals of Billboards. “It was about facilitating calm, something that felt natural to the place and its people.” Set along Chennai’s coastline, with the sea flanking one edge of the site, Eventide Coffee takes shape through this very idea. The space is guided by its surroundings—abundant eastern light, uninterrupted views, and the constant presence of the water. These elements do not sit in the background; they define how the cafe is experienced, shifting gently through the course of the day.
The design intent
Billboards, a Chennai-based practice that describes itself as an advanced research and design lab, works at the intersection of people, place, and objects. Their approach involves experimenting with sensory narratives of design to shape a more mindful and conscious everyday life—an outlook that informs the way the cafe responds to its context.
The site’s scale allowed for contemplation and restraint. Early design conversations focused on understanding the needs of the residents around the area, with the requirement for a calming, unforced space emerging as a clear imperative. “We wanted the space to belong as much to the neighbourhood as it did to the brand,” note the architects, emphasising that time was the key design driver.
As with their other projects, the architects approached Eventide through the lens of materiality and experience seeking to offer something beyond what is typically expected of a food and beverage space. The design approach was distilled into three guiding aspects: sensory touch, volume, and colour. Inspired directly by the Madras beach, the palette and identity of the café draw from the coast itself, lending both colour and name to the brand. “The beach already had everything we needed,” the architects explain. “It offered a reference point that was honest and deeply rooted in Chennai.”
The design and material details
The exterior is conceived as a restrained rectangular volume, framing a large glazed opening that offers a direct view into the interior. Through this, the curved elements within—the counter and its arched backdrop—become the primary visual focus, drawing attention inward.
At the centre, an off-elliptical counter anchors the space. Its expanding form creates a sense of movement, guiding the eye upwards towards the skylight and across to the curved wall behind. At one end, a slow bar and pourover station is integrated into the counter, accompanied by dedicated seating that gathers people around the act of brewing.
Rather than dividing the café into defined zones, the layout encourages intuitive movement. This approach is further reinforced by the studio’s involvement across branding, packaging, and spatial design, allowing the narrative to remain consistent throughout. Material choices follow this direction, with textured surfaces and muted tones that shift from deeper, earthy hues to lighter, beach-like shades, echoing a sense of gradual weathering. “We wanted the materials to feel evolved naturally over time inspired from the evening suns’ reflection of the same (colours) symbolising the name eventide.
Light remains the most dominant element in the project. Receiving both eastern and western light, the space changes continuously through the day. A series of evenly spaced, low-hanging beams animate the ceiling, while a central skylight draws in softer light that filters down onto the counter below. A circular cut-out near the main counter introduces a sculptural moment, framing the wait staff walking out of the dishes.
Beneath this, a 16-seater community table supports gatherings, workshops, and shared use. Alongside it, a merchandise display composed of stacked cuboidal forms presents products at varying heights and angles. Lounge seating is placed along the edges, tucked under a gently curving ceiling that softens the volume. With the height capped at 22 feet, the design focuses on shaping perception through shifting ceiling planes, guiding the exploration of the nooks and crannies embedded within the space.
Fact File
Project: Eventide Coffee
Location: East Coast Road, Chennai
Area: 3,000 sq ft
Principal architects: Arun Prabhu NG and Vincy Victor
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