Creating an architecture website is an important milestone in every architect’s career. Having one is a statement in itself: you are professional and dedicated to what you’re doing.
Now, you may think that creating your architecture portfolio website is too daunting, but we’re here to demystify the process and help you get started. Therefore, we’ve rounded up the 20 best architecture websites to give you a boost of inspiration and our top tips on how to get started with yours.
The 20 Best Architecture Websites
1. EFFEKT
EFFEKT is a Copenhagen-based architecture studio, aiming to make a positive impact. No wonder they earned first place on this list.
They have a clutter-free and user-friendly site. It’s super easy to navigate and to find what you are looking for. And the best part is, that they made looking through the images so much easier because they added a thumbnail and a gallery view as well.
2. Oladimeji Ladejobi
Oladimeji Ladejobi is a talented architect and 3D visualizer. His portfolio is extremely professional, clear, and simple. He used Archifolio to create his portfolio and the end result is stunning.
3. Pattersons
Pattersons Associates Architects is a studio based in New Zealand. Their website evokes a sense of belonging just like their designs.
Everything on their website ties together nicely with the grayscale filter, yet their colorful hover states provide some liveliness and playfulness. The navigation bar on the top allows easy and clear navigation and the large images catch the attention of the viewers.
4. OHPD
Oh Planning+design, Architecture (OHPD) is a Portland-based studio with an amazing-looking website. It’s interactive and youthful and gorgeous. Their projects are well-structured, with the most important details right at the beginning. In addition, they have separate pages for their services, which makes it easy to find relevant information.
5. Cedrus
Cedrus is a Tehran-based design company with a simple, but compelling website. Immediately as you enter, you can see their projects, represented by eye-catching images. Plus with the navigation bar on the left, all the information is at hand.
6. Centric Architecture
Another stunning website is the one by Centric Architecture. They have a clear layout with the yellow accent color popping on the dark background. We especially love the way the people working there are portrayed throughout the site. This friendly introduction is what makes it feel like their doors are always open.
7. Scott Shields Architects
Scott Shields Architects is a boutique award-winning design firm headquartered in Toronto. Their architecture website is breaking the rules exactly the right way. It has the navigation on the right, which is very unique and eye-catching.
8. Kristoffer Tejlgaard
Kristoffer Tejlgaard is a Denmark-based architect challenging standardized construction methods in the industry. His website is clear and easy to navigate. His projects are the protagonists of his site and indeed, they shine bright.
9. Olson Kundig
Olson Kundig is an internationally recognized architecture firm with a stunning website. Their layout is clear and simple, and their images get the proper amount of white space. They added animations, but these are so subtle that they aren’t at all distracting and make the site lively.
10. Largo Studio
Largo Studio, a Tokyo-based firm, has a unique interior design portfolio website. They have some sophisticated animation and breathtaking imagery.
11. Riva Cantu
12. PG Arquitectos Associados
13. Tyler Karu
14. Interior Architects
15. Decor Systems
16. Signum Architecture
17. MMBB
18. SOM
19. Bunker Arquitectura
20. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners
Get Started Creating your Architecture Website – Step-by-step Guide
We want you to have a good idea of what you should do next. So, we’ve outlined the most important phases of the website creation process below.
1. Start with the why
Before getting into the nitty-gritty details, first you need to identify why you are creating your website:
- Looking to get hired and you need an architecture portfolio that stands out from the crowd?
- Do you want to land freelance work and find new clients?
- Would you like to build your personal brand?
Keep in mind your audience when you start thinking about the website design.
2. Choose a website builder that works for you
There are countless website builders out there. Thus, it’s easy to get lost in which one would work best for you.
We recommend building your site with Archifolio. Here’s why:
- what-you-see-is-what-you-get editor,
- specific features for the architectural industry,
- intuitive user interface free of coding jargon,
- guidance on creating a stunning portfolio + writing prompts,
- custom domain option,
- fast loading and editing.
Give Archifolio a go and create your amazing website quickly and easily.
3. Create the essential pages
Depending on your why, you may want to have an About page, a Contact page and/or a page for your extracurricular projects.
4. Create your project pages
And last, but definitely not least, come your project pages. These are the most crucial elements of your site.
Let’s see an example of a great project page:
What Cedrus did right:
- Clear portfolio layout,
- Large hero image of the finished building to start with,
- Contextual information at the beginning,
- Including heaps of images (not just of the end-result, but technical drawings as well),
- Embedding two other projects at the end, and
- Placing their email address at the bottom of the page.
What could be improved:
- Placing important information in the image captions to give context,
- Including 1-2 sentences about the outcome
- Did they finish the work under budget?
- What was the biggest challenge?
- Was the client happy with the end result?
What Makes a Good Architecture Website? – Our Top 3 Tips
1. Organization
People come to the website for a reason. Make sure that they find what they are looking for. It’s best not to start with an artistic cover page, but rather your projects or project categories laid out in front of your audience.
2. Fast Loading
It’s crucial to have a fast website. It’s simple: if a site loads slowly, people leave instantly.
There are a couple of things that you can do (e.g. compress your images), but loading time is mainly influenced by the code behind it. If you want to make sure that your architecture or interior design website is blazing fast, build it with Archifolio. You just bring your projects and we’ll take care of the coding.
3. Personality
Your website presents you as a professional and therefore, it should reflect your design style as well. So, for example, if you’re creating minimalist building designs, your portfolio should be clear and simple too.
6 Things to Avoid
1. Breaking all the website design rules
You may have seen architecture websites that are all about artistic components, constant animations and disappearing elements. You may be wowed for a moment or two by the innovation, but if you spend more time on the site, you’ll get lost at some point.
People quickly get frustrated with an over-complicated website. They want to understand how to get where they want to go and the best way to help them is to follow the most common website architecture rules. It’s OK to break them a bit to be unique (e.g. finding a bold color or experimenting with the image size), but don’t go overboard.
2. Hiding the most important information
You know that it’s not a great website if you’re looking for the contact information and you can’t find it. Think about what your audience is interested in and make it easily accessible.
3. Vague or incomprehensible navigation
Use the lingo that your audience speaks. If they are interested in your extracurricular, then don’t just put it on a page that’s titled “other”.
4. Making it look busy
If you make your website look busy with way too much information, people won’t understand half of what you’re trying to say. Rather, aim to keep it short and to the point.
5. Poor quality images
Pixelated images can make the whole website look sloppy. Pay attention to the quality of the image when compressing it.
Building your website with Archifolio will not only mean that you have unlimited storage for your projects. We automatically convert your images into a website-friendly file type, which guarantees that your images will look sharp, without slowing your site.
6. Unreadable fonts
We get that some architects try to be artsy with their choice of fonts, however, in many cases they end up with a fancy-looking font that misses one important aspect: readability. Find a font that’s legible, and make sure to choose the right font size.
So, there you have it. We hope that you got enough inspiration from the examples to start working on your architecture website. If you’re itching to start right away, give Archifolio a go. Sign up, choose a portfolio template to start, and create something unique!
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Fanni Szalkai
Marketing Manager of Archifolio, Architecture Portfolio Expert & Tiny House Enthusiast 🏡
