Case Study: Redesigning a Historic Architecture Firm's Digital Presence
A 1978-founded firm needed a digital presence matching their physical work. This case study traces the five-month process from audit to launch.
When a firm that has shaped skylines for four decades approaches you for a redesign, the weight of their legacy sits in every decision. Their previous website, built in 2015, had become a liability rather than an asset.
The challenge was not visual — it was conceptual. The firm's work spoke of permanence, material honesty, and spatial generosity. Their website spoke of a generic creative agency.
Starting With Honest Assessment
The audit revealed fundamental problems. The navigation prioritized services over projects. Photography was compressed to the point of abstraction. The CMS prevented the team from updating their own content without breaking layouts.
Before and After Priorities
Translating Legacy to Digital
The firm's archive became the design's foundation. Original project photography, hand-drawn sketches, and construction documents offered visual language that no stock library could provide.
A historic firm does not need a historic-looking website. It needs a digital space that carries the same weight as their built work.
The color palette was drawn from materials the firm favored: board-formed concrete, weathered bronze, and natural walnut. The typography referenced architectural lettering without pastiche.
The Redesign Process
- 01
Discovery
Three weeks of interviews with partners and staff
- 02
Content audit
Cataloging every project, drawing, and photograph
- 03
Information architecture
Restructuring around projects, not services
- 04
Art direction
Establishing visual principles drawn from the archive
- 05
Development
Building on a modern headless stack
- 06
Migration
Moving 40 years of content without loss
- 07
Launch
Soft release, then full publication
Lessons From the Process
Historic firms carry institutional memory that younger practices do not. Respecting that memory while modernizing the expression is the core challenge.
Let the firm's own archive drive visual decisions
Photography is not content — it is the content
Structure projects as narratives, not databases
Build systems, not pages
Outcome
The redesigned site launched to measurable results: 40% longer average session duration, 60% more project page views, and three direct client inquiries citing the website in the first month.