Architecture Firm Portfolio Website Cost: Project Pages, Awards and Tenders (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a practice of 4 to 25 people, a portfolio theme at 2,500 to 5,000 EUR is enough as long as you publish fewer than 15 projects and do not compete in tenders. Once your references must be filtered by building type, floor area and status for a jury or a developer, a custom site at 12,000 to 35,000 EUR or USD in London, Amsterdam or Toronto pays for itself with a single won commission. The line item everyone underestimates is architectural photography, at 800 to 2,500 EUR per project.

Portfolio theme or custom build: what you are really buying

A public client shortlisting candidates spends on average under three minutes on each website. They look for comparable references: a 4,000 m² school, a social housing retrofit, a sports facility delivered on time. If your site does not surface those projects in two clicks, they move on.

The key difference is the structured project page. On a custom site, each project carries fixed fields (area, construction value, work stages, BREEAM or LEED rating, completed or on site). Those fields feed the filters, search visibility and an automatically generated PDF reference sheet you attach to bid submissions. A firm answering 20 tenders a year saves 2 to 3 hours of layout per submission.

The real cost of images: photography, weight and formats

An architecture site lives on its images, and they are also what slows it down. A 6 MB professional photo must be served as WebP or AVIF under 200 KB, in several sizes depending on the screen. Without that processing, the homepage exceeds 15 MB and mobile visitors give up.

Plan a photography budget of 4,000 to 10,000 EUR to cover your 5 flagship projects at launch. It is often the best investment in the project: firms replacing smartphone shots with professional photography usually see a clear rise in contact requests.

Tenders and developers: the features that make the difference

Three features separate a site that reassures from one that merely decorates. First, a public references page listing clients, values and years that a procurement officer can quote in the evaluation report. Second, a team page with each partner's credentials (RIBA, ARB, BIM manager), because juries score team composition. Third, a press area with publications and awards.

For private developers, add reliability indicators: number of homes delivered, schedule performance, certifications obtained. A developer choosing an architect for a 60-unit scheme first checks whether you have delivered similar schemes in the same city.

Mini case study

Claire, partner at a 12-person practice in Amsterdam, answers 18 tenders and invitations a year. She chooses a custom site at 19,000 EUR plus 6,000 EUR of photography for 4 buildings, 25,000 EUR in total. The automatic PDF sheet saves her 2.5 hours per submission, 45 hours a year, valued at 80 EUR an hour: 3,600 EUR saved every year. More importantly, one design commission on a public building with 3 million EUR of construction is worth around 300,000 EUR in fees. If the site contributes to a single extra commission over three years, the investment is covered more than 10 times.

FAQ

How much does a website cost for a sole practitioner architect?

For a sole practitioner or a 2 to 3 person studio, a well-configured portfolio theme costs between 2,500 and 5,000 EUR. Budget 90 to 120 EUR per month for maintenance and hosting.

How long does a custom architecture firm website take?

Allow 6 to 10 weeks between the scoping workshop and launch. The bottleneck is almost always gathering photos and copy for 10 to 20 project pages.

Should we show construction value on each project?

It is recommended for public projects, whose values are often already published. For private clients, a range (under 1 million, 1 to 5 million) is enough and reassures without breaching confidentiality.

How do we stop photos slowing the site down?

Every image should be converted to WebP or AVIF under 200 KB and lazy-loaded. With that processing, a 20-photo project page weighs under 3 MB and stays fast on mobile.

Can the site generate our reference sheets for bids?

Yes, on a custom build each project page can produce a branded PDF in one click. That module represents roughly 1,500 to 2,500 EUR of the total budget.

Let's scope your project. Send us your flagship projects and your tender or developer goals, and we will propose a scope, a budget between 12,000 and 35,000 EUR or USD and a 6 to 10 week schedule. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.