The verdict in three sentences
In Gibraltar, an architecture firm redesign succeeds or fails on the portfolio migration: sorting every project page, checking the rights on every image and redirecting every old URL. A ballpark budget runs from £5,000 to £15,000 with an agency, against £3,900 on Growth or £6,900 on Premium with Kolonell, with 3 to 4 weeks of build once content is ready. Decide on Spanish at the start, because it nearly doubles the migration work.
Which project pages do you keep, merge or retire?
A residential practice that has been working for years builds up dozens of project pages: small extensions, refurbished flats, schemes on reclaimed land, work close to the historic fortifications. Before any design work, every page goes through a sorting grid.
| Page situation | Decision | Technical action |
|---|---|---|
| Representative project, good photos, already visited | Keep | New clean URL, 301 from the old one |
| Several small similar projects | Merge into a theme page | 301 from each old page to the theme page |
| Old project, weak photos, no traffic | Retire | 301 to the closest category, never to the homepage |
| Photos with no credit or unclear rights | Hold | Republish only after written consent from the photographer |
| Private house with a visible address | Fix | Remove the address and any identifying view |
| Project the client has not approved | Retire | 301 to the category, no mention of the client |
The URL inventory is built from the current sitemap, the pages that receive visits in Search Console and known external links. After go-live, Search Console is checked every week for 6 weeks to catch 404 errors.
What does the redesign cost, line by line?
A 2026 ballpark based on typical quotes from agencies in Gibraltar, on the Costa del Sol and in the UK, and on public agency rate pages.
| Line | Freelancer | Local agency | Kolonell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design and templates | £1,000 to £2,500 | £2,000 to £5,000 | Included in the grid |
| Portfolio migration and 301 map | Often partial | £1,500 to £4,000 | Included from Growth |
| English copywriting | Rarely included | £1,000 to £3,000 | Native English copywriting included |
| Spanish version | On quote | £1,500 to £3,000 | Premium (the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote) |
| Usual total | £2,000 to £6,000 | £5,000 to £15,000 | £2,300, £3,900 or £6,900 |
| Timeline | 6 to 12 weeks | 8 to 16 weeks | 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready |
The international offer grid also includes a project manager reachable in your time zone and 3 months of support. Search work beyond the migration is on quote.
Which risks should you watch during the redesign?
- Traffic loss: every retired page without a redirect becomes a 404. Mitigation: a complete 301 map signed off before the switch.
- Image rights: a photographer may have granted a licence limited to the first site. Mitigation: a credit sheet per project and written consent where needed.
- Heavy images: facade and interior shots often exceed 5 MB. Mitigation: WebP or AVIF, responsive sizes, lazy loading.
- Integrations: links to a project extranet, a BIM viewer or a CRM. They stay on quote, linked or embedded, never rebuilt inside the site.
- Downtime: DNS switch off-peak, TTL lowered 48 hours before.
- Marketing content: a partner reviews it before go-live. The title architect appears only for people who hold it, and Development and Planning Commission processes are described generally, never as advice.
On data, Gibraltar applies the Gibraltar GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2004, supervised by the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority. The form is limited to name, contact details, project type, area and rough budget; plans go through a separate secure channel, on quote. This is not legal advice.
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When is a local agency the better choice?
If you want someone who drops into the office every week, a photo shoot organised on site, or a redesign tied to a change of name and signage, a Gibraltar agency has a real advantage. Questions for any provider: how many project pages does the migration include? Who checks photo credits? Is the 301 map delivered as a file? Who owns the domain? What does a project page added after delivery cost?
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Linewash Studio, a fictional residential practice in Gibraltar with two partners and about eight staff, has 64 project pages. After sorting: 30 kept, 18 merged into 6 theme pages, 16 retired. That means 18 + 16 = 34 redirects to another page, plus 30 old-to-new URL redirects, so 64 lines in the 301 map.
- Option A, English only: Growth £3,900 + new photo licences for 5 projects (third-party cost, market assumption) £600 = £4,500
- Option B, English and Spanish: Premium £6,900 + review by an independent translator (third-party cost, market assumption) £1,400 + photo licences £600 = £8,900
The £4,400 gap is only worth it if a real share of your enquiries arrives in Spanish. To price your own portfolio, request a free quote.
FAQ
How many project pages should we keep? There is no quota, but an eight-person practice often shows 20 to 35 solid projects. Thirty well-documented pages beat 64 uneven ones.
Is a Spanish version required in Gibraltar? No, English covers most needs. Spanish sits in Premium at £6,900, languages set in the quote, if it matches real demand.
How long should we monitor redirects? Six weeks of weekly Search Console checks cover most cases. Remaining 404 errors are fixed as they appear during the 3 months of support.
Can we show a private house? Yes, with the client's written consent, no address and no view that identifies the location. One credit sheet per project documents both permissions: client and photographer.
Is the project extranet rebuilt in the site? No, it stays on quote and is linked or embedded. The £2,300, £3,900 and £6,900 tiers cover the public website.
Let's scope your project. Tell us your number of project pages, the languages you need and your go-live date. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
