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

The verdict in three sentences

An Edinburgh architecture practice should plan a redesign when its project pages crawl on mobile, its portfolio no longer reflects the work it wants to win, or its enquiry form lands in an inbox nobody owns. In 2026 a redesign with a local Edinburgh studio typically costs £8,000 to £25,000, while Kolonell's fixed grid sits at £2,300 (Starter), £3,900 (Growth) and £6,900 (Premium), delivered in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. The real risk is losing the search visibility and visual credibility your current project pages have built, so the redirect map and the image pipeline deserve as much attention as the new design.

What signals that your practice website is due for a redesign?

Most architecture sites in Edinburgh were built around a portfolio, and the portfolio is usually what ages first. Typical warning signs:

• Project pages carrying 20 to 40 full-resolution photographs that take more than 4 seconds to load on a phone over 4G.
• A portfolio organised by year rather than by the kind of work you want to win: conservation and listed building projects in the Old Town and New Town, residential extensions, commercial fit-outs, new build.
• Team pages that describe people as architects without anyone checking the ARB register. In the UK "architect" is a protected title, and RIAS or RIBA membership should only appear where the practice or the person actually holds it.
• Copy about planning permission and listed building consent that reads as a promise. A site can explain the process in general terms; it should never imply an outcome.
• A content management system that nobody in the office can update without calling a developer.
• Analytics tags that fire before cookie consent, which sits badly with PECR and UK GDPR.

How much does an architecture website redesign cost in Edinburgh in 2026?

The local figures below are a 2026 ballpark drawn from typical agency quotes and public agency rate pages, not a survey.

Every Kolonell tier includes a project manager reachable in UK working hours, native English copywriting and 3 months of support. The detail of each tier is on the international offer page.

Over three years the gap changes shape once maintenance and photography are added:

What does a realistic redesign timeline look like?

Kolonell's 3 to 4 weeks cover phases 3 to 6 once content is ready. In practice the bottleneck is phase 2: selecting images and writing project descriptions always takes longer than directors expect.

What are the main risks, and how do you reduce them?

• Search traffic loss. Project pages often rank for long queries such as a conservation extension in a specific Edinburgh neighbourhood. Inventory every URL, map each one to its new equivalent with a 301 redirect, keep slugs where possible, resubmit the sitemap in Search Console and watch coverage for 4 weeks.
• Image migration. Keep photographer credits and alt text, compress originals into responsive sizes, and check that your photography licences cover reuse on a new site.
• Integrations. Newsletter tools, a CRM, careers pages or a project management link are connected or embedded, and quoted separately.
• Downtime. Switch DNS at a quiet hour and keep the old hosting live for 2 weeks as a fallback.
• Compliance review before go-live. Protected titles, memberships, client names (only with permission), planning wording, a UK GDPR privacy notice that matches the Data Protection Act 2018, PECR-compliant cookie consent and a WCAG 2.2 AA target in line with the Equality Act 2010. This is not legal advice.

What stays on quote, and what should you ask your provider?

On quote: a client area for project documents, integrations with practice or CRM tools, competition microsites, 3D or model viewers, and search work beyond the groundwork included in the build.

Questions worth asking any provider, local or remote:

• Who builds and tests the 301 map, and how many URLs does it cover?
• How are images compressed, and what is the target mobile load time?
• Can we add a project ourselves in under 15 minutes?
• Who owns the domain, the hosting account and the code?
• What happens after the support period, and at what price?

When is a local Edinburgh agency the better choice?

If you need in-person workshops, a brand built from scratch, art direction on site visits or a long retainer with people who already know the Edinburgh conservation landscape, a local agency earns its higher fee. Kolonell fits when the identity already exists and the need is a fast, well-built portfolio site at a fixed price. You can compare both routes with a free quote.

Mini case study

Illustrative example. Fiona is a director of Dunmore Lane Studio, a fictional 7-person practice in the New Town whose directors are ARB-registered architects. The current site has 46 URLs, including 28 project pages; 9 of those bring most organic visits.

• Kolonell Growth: £3,900.
• Local photographer for 5 projects at £300 each (third-party cost): £1,500.
• Hosting and maintenance for the 9 months after the 3 included months: £80 x 9 = £720 (market assumption; Kolonell maintenance after the 3 included months on quote).
• First-year total: £3,900 + £1,500 + £720 = £6,120.

Against a local studio quote at the £12,000 midpoint for the redesign alone, the practice keeps £8,100 in year one before photography and maintenance, or £5,880 once both are added on the Kolonell side only. The redirect map holds 46 rows, and the 9 priority pages are checked weekly in Search Console for the first month.

FAQ

How long does an architecture website redesign take with Kolonell?

Delivery takes 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready. Content gathering usually adds 1 to 3 weeks on the practice side, mostly image selection.

Will we lose our Google rankings?

Fluctuations of 2 to 6 weeks are common after any migration. A complete 301 map and Search Console monitoring keep the risk low, but no provider can honestly guarantee rankings.

Can we show RIAS or RIBA membership on the new site?

Only where the practice or person holds it, and "architect" only for ARB-registered people. Checking 10 names on the public ARB register takes about 15 minutes.

Which tier suits a practice with more than 20 projects?

Growth at £3,900 usually covers a filterable portfolio of that size. Premium at £6,900 fits when you want advanced animation or more than one language.

Is a client document area included?

No, a client area or portal is quoted separately, as are integrations. The fixed price covers the public site and its 3 months of support.

Let's scope your project. Tell us your page count, number of projects and preferred go-live date, and we will return a fixed GBP price and a phased timeline. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.