Local agency or remote studio for an architecture firm website in Galway: how to choose (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For a two-partner architecture atelier in Galway, the right provider is the one that saves you time, because you have no marketing person and no budget to lose in meetings. A remote studio suits an 8 to 15 page portfolio site very well, delivered in 3 to 4 weeks for €2,700 to €4,500, especially if some of your clients live in Boston, London or Dubai and find you online. A Galway agency makes sense if you want someone who knows your landscapes, comes out to shoot your houses with you and keeps a regular presence on the ground.

Which criteria really matter for a small atelier?

A west of Ireland atelier lives on one-off houses, cottage extensions and a few local community projects. Clients are Galway families, Irish diaspora coming home to build, and sometimes overseas buyers. The site has to reassure someone who may only meet you two months in.

When is a Galway agency the better choice?

• You want to hand over content entirely, including site visits with the photographer.
• You prefer a monthly fee that includes social media posting.
• You do not want to manage your own photographer or drone operator.
• You need an English and Irish bilingual site written by a single local team.

For everything else, proximity adds little to a site of this size. The studio works on GMT all year, so on your working day, with a named project manager and written replies within 24 hours. See the international website offer: Starter €2,700, Growth €4,500, Premium €8,200, native copywriting and 3 months of support included.

What timeline should you expect from each option?

Agency and freelancer figures reflect typical quotes and public rate pages seen in Galway and the west of Ireland. A freelancer is the cheapest option on paper, but check who takes over the site if they change career.

What the law and the profession require of the site

In Ireland, the title architect is reserved for people on the RIAI register established under the Building Control Act 2007. If one of the two partners is not yet registered, their bio must reflect that. Forms and the newsletter fall under the GDPR and Ireland's Data Protection Act 2018: privacy notice, purpose, retention period, cookie consent. For accessibility, aim for WCAG 2.2 AA, with sufficient contrast and alt text on every photo. Rights to photos and drone footage should be assigned in writing for web, press and competitions. This is not legal advice.

An 8 point decision checklist

• Do you already have at least 8 well photographed projects?
• Does a single partner sign off the content?
• Do more than 20% of your enquiries come from abroad?
• Will the domain and hosting be in your name?
• Can you add a project yourself in under 30 minutes?
• Does the site load in under 2.5 seconds on a rural mobile connection?
• Are photo rights settled in writing?
• Does the contract include a handover of access if you leave?

If you answer yes to questions 1 to 3 and 5, the remote studio is probably the right call.

Mini case study

*Illustrative example.* Aoife and Tomás run a two-partner atelier in Galway. Their home-made site brings vague enquiries: 6 a month, 1 of them serious. They compare a local agency at €8,500 plus €120 a month (€12,820 over 3 years) with the Growth option at €4,500 plus about €30 a month of hosting (€5,580). With a form that asks for site, budget and timeline, they aim for 2 serious enquiries a month. One extra house with €450,000 of works and an 8% fee brings €36,000, so both options pay off. Since Tomás already shoots projects with a photographer from Salthill, they choose the remote studio and keep the €7,240 difference for a photo and drone campaign.

FAQ

Can a remote studio do justice to Connemara landscapes?

The result depends first on the photos, which you commission locally at around €400 to €900 a day as a 2026 ballpark. The studio builds full-screen pages that showcase them without slowing the site.

Do we need a site in Irish?

Only if a real share of your clients asks for it, say 10% or more. A home page and a contact page in Irish, handled by a specialist translator, are often enough.

How do we handle diaspora clients living in Boston?

Add a country of residence field and a booking link with slots late in the Irish working day. That covers 4 to 5 hours of overlap with the US east coast.

What does maintenance cost after launch?

Kolonell includes 3 months of support, then it is on quote. Typical local agency contracts range from €60 to €200 a month.

For a figure tailored to your atelier, request a free quote.

Let's scope your project. An 8 to 15 page portfolio site for a Galway atelier, from €2,700 to €4,500, live in 3 to 4 weeks. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.