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

The verdict in three sentences

For a Palm Beach architecture firm, a redesign mostly succeeds or fails at the cutover: a competition deadline, the holidays or the winter high season handled badly costs more than the website itself. At a local agency, a redesign runs a ballpark USD 20,000 to 60,000, while Kolonell delivers in 3 to 4 weeks, content ready, on a fixed grid of $2,900, $4,900 and $8,900. A written plan from D-45 to D+42 protects email, Google rankings and the press kit.

When should you redesign, and when should you not?

Palm Beach firms work on high-end estates, for seasonal residents and, in some cases, for hotels and restaurants. Historic preservation and architectural review processes, described here in general terms, already shape the calendar. Three periods are best avoided for go-live: the winter high season, when clients are in town and the team is booked with meetings; the two weeks before a competition or submission deadline; and the holidays, when IT providers slow down. The safest window is usually between May and October, on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

The signals that a redesign is due are familiar: slow project pages, restaurant interior galleries that cannot be filtered, a frozen press page, and the title architect given to staff who do not hold a license from the state board. NCARB certification and AIA membership are mentioned only where real.

What does the budget contain, line by line?

Ranges come from typical agency quotes and public rate pages. At Kolonell, the project manager is reachable in your time zone and 3 months of support are included; see the international offer page.

What does a written cutover plan look like?

During cutover week, a few habits keep the firm reachable: pause any newsletter send (CAN-SPAM unsubscribe links must keep working on the new site), keep an out-of-office note ready in case a mailbox misbehaves, warn the 5 to 10 journalists and operators who use the press kit, and keep the old site exported for 90 days. If a submission or competition date moves inside the window, the go-live moves, not the deadline.

What breaks during a cutover?

• Email: one forgotten MX record and messages from a jury or a hotel operator vanish. Fix: full DNS inventory at D-2.
• Search rankings: restaurant interior pages that already rank return 404. Fix: page-by-page 301 redirects, 6 weeks of Search Console monitoring.
• The press kit: journalists keep old links. Fix: redirect the old press URL and keep the PDF under 5 MB.
• Rights: a hotel or restaurant has not approved publication. Fix: written permission per project, photographer credit, no address for private residences.
• Speed: 15 MB galleries. Fix: WebP or AVIF, lazy loading, responsive sizes.
• Compliance: unverified awards or press, neglected accessibility while ADA Title III claims against websites are frequent in the US. Fix: firm review before go-live, a WCAG 2.1 or 2.2 AA target, CAN-SPAM for the newsletter.

On quote: extranets, client portals, tender document rooms, BIM viewers, CRM and secure upload of plans. The form asks only for name, contact details, project type, location area and rough budget.

Ask the provider: who handles DNS on the day? Who tests the redirects? What happens if a competition deadline moves forward?

A local agency is preferable if your cutover involves an on-site launch event, a local press relations campaign or daily coordination with several operators.

Mini case study

Illustrative example: Coral Arcade Studio, 7 people in Palm Beach, designs hospitality and restaurant interiors and buildings. The firm has a submission due in mid-March and wants a new site before summer. Chosen calendar: content freeze on April 15, go-live on Tuesday May 11, monitoring until June 22, which is 6 weeks. Budget: Growth at $4,900 plus one day of an independent local photographer (third-party cost) at $2,500 for 2 recent restaurants, or $7,400. The 6 mailboxes and the 25 ranking URLs are listed at D-2.

FAQ

Which day should the site go live?

A Tuesday or Wednesday morning, between May and October, never within 2 weeks of a competition deadline.

Does the DNS switch cut off email?

Not if the MX records are kept and the TTL is lowered to 300 seconds 48 hours before.

How long should the old press kit stay reachable?

Redirect its URL for at least 12 months and keep the new PDF under 5 MB.

Can we publish a client hotel's interiors?

Only with the operator's written consent and the photographer's credit. This is not legal advice.

Which tier for 30 projects?

Growth at $4,900 covers a filterable portfolio of that size; Premium at $8,900 is the right step if you target several languages.

Let's scope your project. Share the dates to avoid, your number of projects and your target budget. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.