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

The verdict in three sentences

For a small residential practice in Victoria, a redesign succeeds or fails on the portfolio migration far more than on the design. You need to decide, project by project, what to keep, what to merge and what to retire, then redirect every old URL. The budget runs from $2,900 (Starter) to $8,900 (Premium) with Kolonell, against a 2026 ballpark of CAD 12,000 to 35,000 (roughly USD 8,600 to 25,000) with a local agency.

Keep, merge or retire: how do you sort your project pages?

Over the years a practice piles up uneven project pages: some well photographed and well ranked, others with three construction shots and no caption. In Victoria, where part of the work involves houses and older buildings in neighborhoods such as James Bay or Fairfield, these pages also raise privacy questions: a private home is never shown with its address.

Simple rule: no page that gets visits disappears without a 301 redirect. The inventory starts from a full site export and Google Search Console data, then monitoring runs for 6 weeks after launch.

Image rights and credits: what should you check before migrating?

This is the point practices underestimate. For every project you keep, you need to know who took the photos, under which license, and whether the client agreed to publication. A rights table, filled in by the firm before production, avoids pulling pages in a rush after launch. Images then move to WebP or AVIF, with lazy loading and responsive sizes, so that 15-photo project pages stay light on a phone.

Awards, publications and certifications appear only if they are real and documented by the firm. The word architect is reserved for people who hold that title with the Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC). Permit and heritage processes, which differ between Victoria, Saanich, Oak Bay or Esquimalt, are described in general terms, never as advice.

What does the redesign cost by portfolio size?

2026 ballparks drawn from typical agency quotes and public agency rate pages, converted approximately into USD. The number of projects to migrate is the first price driver.

Every Kolonell tier includes a project manager reachable in your time zone, native English or French copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready, and 3 months of support; maintenance after that is on quote. BIM viewers, project extranets, client portals, tender document rooms and CRM stay linked or embedded, never rebuilt inside a fixed-grid site. Details on our international offer page.

What timeline and which risks?

Typical schedule once content is gathered:

• Week 1: URL inventory, keep/merge/retire sort, rights table, 301 redirect map.
• Week 2: sitemap, project page templates, copy for service pages and the careers page for architects and technologists.
• Week 3: project and image migration, minimal contact form (name, contact, project type, area, rough budget).
• Week 4: compliance review of all copy, testing, weekday morning launch, start of Search Console monitoring.

Risks to cover: traffic loss if one URL is forgotten; broken links from articles or directories that cite your projects; a form that receives drawings as attachments (documents go through a separate secure channel, on quote); privacy notices not aligned with British Columbia PIPA; commercial email sent without consent under CASL. This is not legal advice.

A Victoria agency remains the better choice if you want in-person meetings at every stage, a local photographer coordinated by the agency or a full new brand identity. Questions to ask any provider: who fills in the 301 map? Who checks photo rights? How many weeks of monitoring after launch?

Mini case study

Illustrative example: Halden Pell Studio, a fictional two-partner residential practice with eight staff in Victoria. Its site has 54 project pages. After sorting: 14 kept and rewritten, 22 merged into 7 themed pages, 18 retired for lack of permission or usable photos. Every old URL gets a redirect: 14 + 22 + 18 = 54 301 redirects. The firm picks Growth at $4,900 and has 3 projects reshot by an independent local photographer (third-party cost, assumption of CAD 1,500 per project, approx. USD 1,100): 4,900 + 3 x 1,100 = $8,200 in total, of which $3,300 is third-party spend.

FAQ

Do we have to migrate all our old projects?

No. In our illustrative example, 18 of 54 pages are retired. What matters is that no URL disappears without a 301 redirect.

How long does the redesign take?

3 to 4 weeks of production with Kolonell once content is gathered. Sorting the portfolio on the firm's side often adds 1 week.

Can we show private homes?

Yes, with the client's written consent and without the address. The rights table covers every project, from the first page to the 54th.

Will our project extranet be rebuilt?

No, it is linked or embedded, as a separate line on quote. The Growth tier stays at $4,900.

What happens after the 3 months of support?

Maintenance is on quote, depending on how often the portfolio is updated.

Let's scope your project. Send your site address and your number of project pages and we will price the sort, the 301 map and the right tier. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.