Architecture firm website cost in Edinburgh: local agencies vs Kolonell (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

An Edinburgh architecture firm website built by a local agency usually lands in a 2026 ballpark of 6 000 to 30 000+ GBP, while a freelancer more often quotes 2 000 to 8 000 GBP, and both ranges move a lot with scope. Kolonell delivers a portfolio site for a practice at 2 300, 3 900 or 6 900 GBP, with a fixed written scope, a project manager working on your clock and 3 months of support (6 on Premium). The useful comparison is not the headline price but what you own and what you pay over three years: project pages, image handling, copy, support, domain and access.

What does an architecture practice website cost in Edinburgh in 2026?

There is no official price list for websites in Scotland. The ranges below are prudent orders of magnitude drawn from the kind of sources a buyer can check: public rate cards of UK studios, minimum project sizes shown on Clutch.co agency profiles, and freelance rates listed on platforms such as Upwork or Malt. They vary with the number of project pages, the quality of the image pipeline and whether copywriting is included.

Local agencies justify the top of their range with in person workshops, brand work and photography direction. If your practice needs a full rebrand or a photographer briefed on site in Leith or the New Town, that is a real reason to pay more. If you already have an identity and a library of project photography, most of the budget should go to structure, project pages and speed, which is where a fixed price offer is easier to compare. See our international website offer for the full tier details.

What does each Kolonell tier cover for an architecture firm?

Scope is fixed in writing at kickoff, so you know before paying the deposit which projects, pages and forms are included. The domain is registered in the practice's name and every access is handed over at delivery. Payment is by bank transfer or Wise, 50 % to start and 50 % at delivery.

What does an Edinburgh architecture site actually need?

Architects sell with images, so the site is first a portfolio that loads fast on a phone. Clients in Edinburgh range from homeowners extending a tenement flat to developers and public bodies, so project pages should be filterable by sector (residential, conservation and listed buildings, education, commercial) and each page should state the brief, the constraints and the outcome in plain language.

A few points to settle before any quote:

• Image rights. Check that you hold the rights to publish each project photograph and that clients agreed to their homes being shown. Credit photographers where the licence requires it.
• Professional title. In the UK the title "architect" is protected and linked to registration with the Architects Registration Board; RIAS and RIBA membership also come with their own rules. Your practice should check that every name and title on the team page complies.
• Data protection. Enquiry forms collect personal data, so the site needs a privacy notice and cookie handling aligned with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. This is not legal advice: have your own adviser validate the wording.
• Accessibility. WCAG 2.1 AA is the common reference, and public sector clients often expect it in tender documentation.
• Languages. English is enough for most Edinburgh practices. Kolonell writes natively in English and French; any other language is supplied by you or quoted separately.

Kolonell's real references are not architecture firms, and we say so: TR Signing Group (trsigninggroup.com), a notary and apostille service in New Jersey with a bilingual EN/FR site, booking calendar and back office, and Orven Properties (orvenproperties.com), an off-plan real estate advisory in Dubai with a trilingual FR/EN/AR site and project pages. The project page logic of Orven is the closest to what a practice needs.

How do you compare quotes without being misled?

Red flags: a price without a page list, a domain registered in the agency's name, a proprietary platform you cannot leave, or a quote that excludes image optimisation for a portfolio site.

Mini case study

Illustrative example, not a real client. Fiona runs a six person practice in Stockbridge specialising in listed building extensions. She receives a local agency quote of 14 000 GBP, plus a monthly retainer of 250 GBP from launch. Over three years: 14 000 + 36 x 250 = 23 000 GBP.

She compares it with Kolonell Growth at 3 900 GBP, 3 months of support included, then assumes for comparison the same 250 GBP per month for maintenance from month 4 (Kolonell maintenance is quoted, this figure is only an assumption): 3 900 + 33 x 250 = 12 150 GBP. The difference, 10 850 GBP over three years, would pay for a full professional photography shoot of her last five projects. The decision then comes down to one question: does she need in person workshops in Edinburgh, or a well structured portfolio delivered in 3 to 4 weeks?

FAQ

Is a 2 300 GBP site enough for an architecture practice?

For a small practice with five or six flagship projects, the Starter tier covers the essentials: practice, team, selected projects and an enquiry form. Practices with a large portfolio or several sectors usually need Growth at 3 900 GBP for filters and more project pages.

Can Kolonell work with our existing photographer and brand?

Yes, and it lowers the cost: we design around your identity and your images. Images are optimised so a project gallery stays fast on mobile, which matters when a homeowner opens 20 photos on a phone.

How do meetings work if the team is not in Edinburgh?

Your project manager runs Google Meet calls at a time that suits you and sends a written weekly update. The team is based in Senegal on GMT, the same clock as Edinburgh in winter and one hour behind in summer.

Who owns the site at the end?

The domain is registered in your practice's name and all access is handed over at delivery. You pay 50 % to start and 50 % at delivery, by bank transfer or Wise.

Can you build a client portal for project documents?

A custom portal or document area is quoted on request. Many practices start by linking the file sharing tool they already use, which costs nothing extra.

Let's scope your project. Tell us how many projects you want to show and whether you need a bilingual site, and we will return a fixed scope, tier and 3 to 6 week timeline. Request your free quote or see the international offer.