The verdict in three sentences
For a Dublin architecture practice of 8 to 20 people, a website redesign with a filterable portfolio costs EUR 9,000 to 18,000 excl. VAT in 2026, before photography. The most underestimated line item is imagery: without a professional shoot of 6 completed projects (EUR 2,500 to 4,500), even the best design is an empty shell. Aim for a timeline of 8 to 12 weeks and project pages that load in under 2.5 seconds on mobile, otherwise clients will never see your best work.
Why the 2018 WordPress site no longer works
The typical practice website dates from 2017 or 2018: a EUR 60 WordPress theme, a carousel gallery, JPEG images of 3 to 6 MB and a "Projects" page that lists work without telling its story. In 2026, public and private clients, developers and competition juries review your portfolio before they open your bid. They want to filter by building type (multi-unit housing, public buildings, offices, refurbishment), by location or by year, and see floor area, construction budget, sustainability rating and client within seconds.
A slow site is also penalised by Google. Across a sample of architecture practice websites we audited, the median project page weighed 9 MB and showed a mobile LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) of 5.2 seconds on 4G. The recommended threshold is 2.5 seconds.
Premium theme, agency or custom Next.js: the comparison
| Criterion | Premium WordPress theme | Agency (custom WordPress) | Custom Next.js + headless CMS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget excl. VAT (before photos) | EUR 3,000 to 6,000 | EUR 9,000 to 14,000 | EUR 12,000 to 18,000 |
| Filterable portfolio (type, location, year) | Limited to the theme | Yes | Yes, instant filters |
| Average project page weight | 4 to 8 MB | 2 to 4 MB | 0.8 to 1.5 MB (AVIF) |
| Observed mobile LCP | 3.5 to 6 s | 2.5 to 3.5 s | 1.2 to 2.2 s |
| Delivery time | 3 to 5 weeks | 8 to 10 weeks | 9 to 12 weeks |
| Monthly maintenance excl. VAT | EUR 60 to 90 | EUR 90 to 150 | EUR 120 to 200 |
| Plugin security risk | High (20 to 35 plugins) | Medium | Low (no exposed plugins) |
A premium theme suits a 3-person studio that needs a clean presence. From 8 partners and staff, with 40 to 120 projects to showcase, custom work pays back quickly: every project page becomes indexable for searches such as "school refurbishment Dublin" or "timber housing Ireland".
What the budget actually covers
| Item | 2026 range excl. VAT | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery workshop and site map | EUR 800 to 1,500 | 2 half-days with the partners |
| Art direction and mock-ups (8 to 12 templates) | EUR 2,500 to 4,500 | Typography, grid, project layouts |
| Development and filterable portfolio | EUR 4,000 to 8,000 | Filters, project map, full-screen gallery |
| Migration of 40 existing project pages | EUR 1,000 to 2,500 | Copy reuse, image optimisation |
| Photography of 6 completed projects | EUR 2,500 to 4,500 | Architectural photographer, rights included |
| Technical SEO and URL migration | EUR 600 to 1,200 | 301 redirects from the old site |
| Maintenance and hosting | EUR 90 to 200 per month | Updates, backups, support |
Also budget internal time: roughly 15 to 25 hours of a partner's time to approve copy and select projects. That is often what stretches the schedule by 3 to 4 weeks.
Project page weight: the 1.5 MB rule
A project page holds 12 to 20 photographs on average. Unprocessed, that means 30 to 60 MB. Good practice in 2026:
- AVIF format with WebP fallback: 50 to 70% smaller than JPEG at equivalent visual quality.
- Responsive images: 4 sizes generated automatically (640, 1,080, 1,600 and 2,400 pixels).
- Lazy loading of every image below the fold.
- Preloaded hero image to keep LCP under 2.5 s, ideally 1.5 s.
A realistic target: under 1.5 MB transferred on first render of a project page, even with 20 photos.
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Mini case study
Ciara, partner in a 14-person Dublin practice specialising in public buildings and timber housing, rebuilt her website in early 2026. Budget: EUR 14,500 excl. VAT for custom Next.js, EUR 3,800 of photography for 6 projects, EUR 150 per month of maintenance. First-year cost: 14,500 + 3,800 + 1,800 = EUR 20,100 excl. VAT.
Result after 6 months: mobile LCP on project pages dropped from 5.4 s to 1.7 s, organic sessions grew by 62% and the contact form produced 9 qualified enquiries, including 2 private invitations for 18-unit and 26-unit schemes. With average fees of 8% on EUR 3.5M of construction, a single signed commission is worth about EUR 280,000 in fees, 14 times the cost of the site.
FAQ
How much does an architecture practice website redesign cost in Dublin in 2026?
Budget EUR 9,000 to 18,000 excl. VAT for a redesign with a filterable portfolio, before photography. A premium theme is possible from EUR 3,000, but it quickly hits limits on performance and filtering.
Do we really need an architectural photographer?
Yes, for at least 6 flagship projects. A shoot costs EUR 2,500 to 4,500 with web usage rights, and it also serves competitions, bids and social media for 5 years.
How long from kickoff to launch?
Between 8 and 12 weeks under normal conditions. The bottleneck is rarely development: it is project selection and partner approval of copy.
Can we keep WordPress?
Yes, in headless mode: WordPress stays as the back office and Next.js renders the site. It adds about EUR 2,000 to 3,000 to the budget, but your team keeps a tool it already knows.
What does EUR 90 to 200 per month of maintenance include?
Security updates, hosting, daily backups, Core Web Vitals monitoring and 1 to 2 hours of minor changes per month, such as adding new project pages.
Let's scope your project. Send us the number of projects to showcase and your schedule: we price redesigns between EUR 9,000 and 18,000 excl. VAT, delivered in 8 to 12 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
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.
