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

The verdict in three sentences

For an architecture firm in Nairobi, a 2026 redesign costs KES 300,000 to 2,500,000 with local agencies (about USD 2,300 to 19,400), against a fixed grid of USD 2,900, 4,900 or 8,900 at Kolonell. The real risk is not the budget but the loss of traffic and enquiries if old project URLs are not redirected. With a page inventory, a 301 redirect map and images optimised for mobile networks, the redesign takes 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready.

Which signs show a redesign is due?

Practices in Westlands, Upper Hill, Kilimani or Gigiri often have a site built five or six years ago around a gallery of heavy renders. Since then, the firm has delivered office towers, schools, NGO-funded projects and commissions across East Africa, but the site does not show it. A few signals are hard to miss:

• project pages take more than 6 seconds to load on a 4G phone;
• the portfolio cannot be filtered by type (residential, commercial, institutional);
• competition and tender documents are sent by email because there is no dedicated page;
• photographer and partner credits are missing;
• the contact form has neither a privacy notice nor consent.

What budget should you plan in 2026?

2026 ballpark figures from public rate pages of local agencies and typical agency quotes, converted at roughly KES 129 to USD 1.

Items on quote: a secure client portal for sharing drawings, integration with project management software, a password-protected download area for bid documents. New photography of completed buildings is a third-party cost (local architectural photographer). The scope of each tier is set out on the international website offer.

What is a realistic timeline, phase by phase?

At Kolonell, weeks 1 to 4 match the 3 to 4 week delivery, and monitoring in weeks 5 to 12 falls within the 3 months of included support. The project manager is reachable on Nairobi time.

What are the risks and how do you reduce them?

On the last point, stay careful: in line with the professional rules of the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors (BORAQS), use the title architect only for registered people and credit each project's partners correctly. The Kenya Data Protection Act 2019 applies to contact and recruitment forms, under the oversight of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner: privacy notice, purposes, retention period. Aim for WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility. This is not legal advice.

When is a local agency the better choice? If you want a new shoot of ten buildings in Nairobi and Mombasa, construction site videos and in-person board meetings, a Nairobi agency will coordinate better. If your content is ready and the main need is a fast portfolio and a clean migration, a remote studio is enough.

Questions to ask any provider before signing:

• Will you deliver a written URL inventory and a redirect map before go-live?
• What image weight do you target on mobile, and how do you test it?
• Who holds the domain, hosting and Search Console access after launch?
• What exactly stays on quote: client portal, tender area, integrations?
• How long do you monitor 404 errors and traffic after the switch?

Mini case study

Illustrative example: Wanjiru, partner in a 14-person practice in Westlands, gets about 2,400 organic visits a month, 1.5% of which fill in the form, or 36 enquiries a month.

Without redirects, a redesign can lose 40% of traffic for 3 months: 2,400 × 40% × 3 = 2,880 visits, so about 43 lost enquiries. If one enquiry in 20 becomes a commission, with average fees of USD 8,000, that is about 2 commissions and a shortfall of more than USD 16,000. A Growth redesign at USD 4,900, redirect map included, costs less than a third of that risk.

FAQ

How many projects should the new portfolio show?

Between 12 and 25 well-documented projects are enough for most practices. Beyond that, each extra project takes about an hour of writing and image selection.

Should we keep the old URLs?

Not necessarily, but every old URL that receives traffic or links must be 301-redirected to its new page. A typical practice has 40 to 150 URLs to map.

Can the site stay online during the redesign?

Yes: the new site is built on staging and the switch usually takes less than an hour. The main risk is email, hence the backup of DNS records.

Is a space for tender documents included?

A public page listing references and downloadable documents fits within the Growth tier at USD 4,900. A login-protected area is on quote.

What is the maximum weight for renders?

Aim for under 300 KB per image displayed on mobile, using compression and modern formats. High-resolution files remain available on request.

Let's scope your project. A Nairobi architecture firm website redesign with portfolio, redirects and migration, between USD 2,900 and USD 8,900, delivered in 3 to 4 weeks. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.