Website redesign for an architecture firm in Bristol: budget, timeline and risks (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a Bristol architecture firm, a website redesign usually costs £7,000 to £25,000 with a local design agency in 2026, while Kolonell's fixed grid sits at £2,300 (Starter), £3,900 (Growth) and £6,900 (Premium). The work that decides success is rarely the design itself: it is migrating the project portfolio without losing the pages that rank, compressing heavy images and confirming credits and client permission for every project shown. Get the URL inventory and the image plan right, and a 3 to 4 week build becomes realistic.

What usually triggers the redesign?

Practices around Harbourside, Clifton and Bedminster tend to redesign for the same reasons: project pages that take several seconds to load because each image weighs 3 to 5 MB, a portfolio that no longer reflects the work the firm wants to win (residential extensions, conservation, commercial or education projects), a careers page that nobody can update, and an "About" page that uses titles loosely. In the UK, "architect" is a protected title under the Architects Act 1997: only people on the ARB register may use it, and RIBA membership or Chartered Practice status should appear only if the firm actually holds it. A redesign is a good moment to check every mention.

What does it cost in Bristol over three years?

One-off figures are a 2026 ballpark from typical agency quotes and public agency rate pages; monthly figures are market assumptions.

Every tier includes a project manager in your time zone, native English copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready and 3 months of support. On quote: BIM viewers, a project extranet or client portal, integrations with practice management or HR tools, and search work after launch. Compare the tiers on the international offer page.

The portfolio migration plan, page by page

Timeline and the risks to manage

Week 1: URL inventory from Search Console and the sitemap, list of ranking project pages, image audit. Week 2: design of home, project template and studio pages. Week 3: build, image conversion, content migration, 301 map. Week 4: compliance and accessibility review (WCAG 2.2 AA target, relevant under the Equality Act 2010), cookie banner set up under PECR, privacy notice aligned with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, go-live. A Bristol studio typically plans 8 to 16 weeks.

Search traffic loss. Project pages for named buildings often rank well; changing slugs without a 301 is the classic mistake. Image rights. A photographer's licence may not cover a new site or new crops; check before publishing. Client confidentiality. Some private residential clients do not want addresses shown. Downtime. Lower DNS TTL 48 hours ahead, switch on a weekday morning. Overclaiming. No invented square metres, budgets or awards; only what the firm can document. This is not legal advice.

When is a local agency the better choice?

If you need a full brand refresh, in-person workshops in Bristol, a photographer the agency art-directs on site or a long-term content and PR retainer, a local agency makes sense. Ask every provider: who builds the redirect map? How will you handle image compression without losing quality? Who checks titles and credits? What does the site cost to run from month four?

Mini case study

*Illustrative example, fictional firm.* Avon Quay Studio is a Bristol practice whose directors are on the ARB register. Its old site shows 40 projects, but only 18 have confirmed photo credits and client permission, so 18 are migrated. At 12 images per project and about 4 MB each, the originals weigh 864 MB; served as WebP at around 250 KB, the same images weigh 54 MB in total.

• Kolonell Premium: £6,900
• Architectural photographer reshoot of 3 projects: £1,800 (third-party cost, market assumption)
• Maintenance: £100/month x 33 months = £3,300 (market assumption; Kolonell maintenance after the 3 included months on quote)

3-year total: £12,000. The same scope with a Bristol branding agency at £18,000, the same £1,800 photography and £200/month for 36 months (£7,200, market assumption) reaches £27,000.

FAQ

Can we keep our current project URLs?

Usually yes; where a slug must change, a 301 redirect preserves most of the signal. We monitor 404 errors for 4 weeks after launch.

Which tier suits an architecture portfolio?

Growth at £3,900 covers portfolio pages, blog and analytics; Premium at £6,900 adds advanced animations and deeper SEO, which many visual-led firms prefer.

Can you build a client extranet or BIM viewer?

Those stay on quote as custom work, usually linked or embedded from the tool you already use. A fixed-grid site never rebuilds them.

How long does the redesign take?

3 to 4 weeks once texts, images and credits are ready. Gathering credits for 18 to 40 projects often takes the firm 1 to 2 weeks beforehand.

Do we need permission to show every project?

Check client agreements and the photographer's licence for each project; in our example only 18 of 40 projects cleared that check.

Let's scope your project. Send us your project count, current URLs and target launch month, and we will price the redesign between £3,900 and £6,900 plus any extranet or integration work. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.