Text provided by the Architect

The client approached the architects to design an event space and a weekend home in a beachside village in north Kasargod, close to the Mangalore border. As designers, we were instantly excited by the prospect of a beachfront site. Although upon visiting the site, we realised that the sea was approximately 150-200 meters away—close enough for the sound of waves to be heard, but not close enough for a clear visual of the sea. The project program was particularly interesting - The client envisioned developing the property as a venue for small-scale events such as intimate weddings and reunions, comprising an open lawn as a gathering space, along with a roofed banquet hall that can accommodate around 200 people. Behind the event space, they wanted to build a weekend home that doubles as an Airbnb. 

The requirement was to build a two-storey house with a pool, designed such that the sea would be visible from the first-floor level. Before starting the design process, we studied the context and built fabric of the surroundings towns. We observed that many buildings in Mangalore and Kasargod feature sloped roofs finished with Mangalore tiles - a unifying element across both historic and contemporary residential and public architecture in this area. Seeking to respect this contextual architectural language, we envisioned a design defined by pitched roofs with earthen-tiles taking centre stage. The design concept pays tribute to the birthplace of Mangalore tiles, a building material that has been dominating construction industry across Kerala till date. While the project brief was compelling, it presented significant challenges. 

Kasargod,Kerala,India

Architects : The Design Pursuit & TNC
Area : 2,800 sq. ft.
Year of Completion : 2025
Website : https://www.instagram.com/the.design.pursuit/

Court of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Patio of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Patio of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC

The banquet hall, being a large-span roofed structure, would typically require a considerable roof height—potentially obstructing views of the sea from the house beyond. We approached the site planning and roofing design of the banquet hall strategically, resolving the space into a series of four bays, with smaller independent pitched roofs instead of a single large canopy. This allowed the house to retain uninterrupted views of the sea over the cluster of rooftops of the banquet hall in the foreground. 

The site section illustrates how the heights were carefully calibrated to maintain the line of sight from the first floor of the house to the sea, while ensuring that the functionality of the banquet hall was not compromised. The banquet area is organized in a repeating grid of 6m × 16m modules, with each bay supported by additional flanking columns on either side to reduce unsupported spans. This geometric grid design forms a repetition of structural elements—beams and columns—that create a series of enfilades, directing attention toward the sea. 


Patio of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Living Area of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Living Area of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC

The distant horizon, where the sea meets the sky, is captured like a framed painting—now distinctly legible despite its distance from the building. The enfilades simulate the optical effect of a telescope, leading sight lines to the framed coastal view from multiple vantage points, allowing the design to fully capitalize on the site’s proximity to the sea. Another challenge in this tropical context, characterized by heavy monsoons, was rainwater management. A drainage system was devised wherein the structural beams themselves function as integrated drainage channels. The rainwater from sloped roofs is captured in the U-shaped beams and is subsequently directed down through the columns that conceal downpipes running centrally within them. 


Dining of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Dining & Kitchen of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Corridor of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Bedroom of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC

The 3-bedroom weekend home, approximately 2800 sq ft in area, accommodates a living-dining-hall with a small pantry, and one bedroom on the ground floor, with two bedrooms and the pool positioned on the first floor. All common spaces, the pool deck, and the first-floor bedrooms are oriented to enjoy views of the sea. The pool is designed such that from within it, the roofing structure of the event space is visually obscured, allowing the sea to appear as an uninterrupted horizon at its infinity edge. The house also adopts a sloped roof, aligned parallel to the series of roofs of the banquet space, collectively forming a wave-like profile in terracotta tones when viewed from a distance. Set within a tropic, the built form recedes into the landscape, with the dominant visual impression of the design being only a sequence of roofs with Mangalore tiles—their warm terracotta tones and earthy texture contrasting with the cool palette of the sea, the sky, and the lush greenery of Kerala.


Passage to pool area of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Pool of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Site Plan of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Ground Floor Plan of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


First Floor Plan of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Villa Section of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC


Site Section of Jumeirah Beach House by The Design Pursuit & TNC




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