Two generations of an architecture website
Our work with Muir Walker & Pride spanned two generations of the practice’s digital presence – beginning with a bespoke website built using HTML/CSS, PHP and a custom CMS, and later evolving into a broader WordPress website.
Created for a historic Scottish practice of Chartered Architects and Interior Designers with roots in St Andrews dating back to 1850, the website needed to organise a substantial body of architecture and interior design work within a clear, professional and visually restrained digital experience.
Across both generations, our approach connected web design and development, UX/UI, website architecture and SEO search-ready technical structure while allowing the architecture and project photography to remain the visual focus.
2 website generations
Custom CMS to WordPress
Architecture + Interiors
One connected portfolio structure
Scotland
St Andrews, Fife & Perth
A custom platform built around the portfolio
The first Muir Walker & Pride website was designed and developed as a bespoke platform using HTML/CSS, PHP and a custom content management system.
Rather than treating the project as a conventional company website, we designed the platform around the practice’s extensive architectural and interior design portfolio.
A permanent vertical navigation system provided access to the main areas of the website, while contextual navigation revealed additional options only when they were relevant. This allowed a substantial amount of content to remain accessible without permanently filling the interface with secondary navigation.
The result combined custom website development, structured content and minimalist UI design within a platform created specifically around the way the practice presented its work.
Making a complex portfolio easier to explore
A major part of the project involved organising a substantial body of architectural work into a clear and scalable website architecture.
Projects were divided into meaningful categories including New Houses, Education & Care, Golf, Leisure & Estates and Conservation & Restoration, while Interior Design was given its own dedicated structure.
Individual project pages combined large-format photography, supporting thumbnails, project information and related navigation, providing a consistent framework for presenting very different types of architectural and interior work.
Behind the restrained interface was a carefully considered information hierarchy, navigation system and internal relationship between portfolio categories and individual projects – foundations that benefited usability, content management and search visibility alike.
Secondary options shown when relevant
Photography, project information and related navigation
SEO built into the website from the beginning
Search engine optimisation formed part of the website development process, rather than being treated as a separate layer added after launch.
The work included core on-page and technical SEO foundations such as logical content hierarchy, descriptive page structure, organised portfolio categories, search-accessible navigation, individual project pages and internal relationships between different areas of the website.
This approach helped search engines interpret the practice, its areas of expertise and the relationships between architecture, interior design, portfolio categories and individual projects while keeping the experience clear for human visitors.
The terminology and technology surrounding search have changed significantly since the first-generation website was created, but many of the fundamentals remain important today: clear website architecture, useful content, crawlable navigation, meaningful internal links and technically accessible pages.
Modern SEO and AI Search Optimisation build further on these principles by making relationships between businesses, services, expertise, locations, projects and content easier for both traditional search engines and AI-powered discovery systems to understand.
Muir Walker & Pride
- TECHNICAL SEO
- ON-PAGE SEO
- CRAWLABLE STRUCTURE
- INTERNAL LINKING
More than an architecture portfolio
The first-generation bespoke platform extended beyond project galleries and was designed to support the wider digital communication of the practice.
A dedicated Practice section introduced the people behind Muir Walker & Pride alongside information about the firm itself, while team photography was integrated into the same restrained visual system used throughout the portfolio.
Newsletter content was also incorporated directly into the website, allowing the practice to publish company news, projects and professional activity alongside its permanent body of architectural work.
The custom CMS therefore supported both portfolio presentation and website content management, giving the practice greater control over an evolving digital presence.
First-generation of Muir Walker & Pride bespoke website
Evolving the platform with the practice
As Muir Walker & Pride’s digital requirements developed, we returned to the project to deliver a complete website redesign and WordPress development project.
The new website retained the restrained, photography-led character of the first-generation bespoke platform while introducing a broader information architecture and a more flexible content management environment.
Larger project galleries, improved portfolio navigation and filtering, dedicated Architecture and Interior Design sections, services, practice history, team profiles, testimonials and structured contact information expanded the website into a much broader representation of the practice.
The redesign was not simply a visual refresh. It represented the next stage in the technical and structural evolution of the platform – moving from a bespoke CMS to WordPress while preserving the content principles and visual identity established by the first website.
- WORDPRESS DEVELOPMENT
- WEBSITE REDESIGN
- PORTFOLIO FILTERING
- EXPANDED CONTENT
New Word Press website - homepage
CUSTOM CMS → WORDPRESS
- HTML/CSS + PHP
- Bespoke publishing
- Contextual navigation
- Structured portfolio
- Flexible publishing
- Larger galleries
- Portfolio filtering
- Expanded website structure
Giving every project more space
The redesigned Architecture portfolio placed project imagery at the centre of the experience, using a larger visual grid and clearer navigation to help visitors explore work across different architectural sectors.
Individual projects were given more visual space, while a dedicated Interior Design section combined photography, descriptive content, category navigation and gallery controls within the same wider website structure.
This allowed Architecture and Interior Design to remain distinct areas of expertise while still forming part of one coherent website architecture and UX/UI system.
Presenting the expertise behind the work
The WordPress redesign gave greater prominence to the professional expertise, history and people behind Muir Walker & Pride.
A structured Services section presented areas including project assessment, statutory permissions, historic property, consultants, technology, specifications, budgets and site works, while the Practice section brought together company history, archival material and team profiles.
Testimonials and client feedback added another layer of trust to the website, connecting the practice’s projects and professional expertise with the experiences of its clients.
A clearer route from project discovery to enquiry
The redesigned Contact section brought together office information, maps, contact details and a direct enquiry form within one structured area of the website.
Separate information for the practice’s St Andrews and Perth offices helped visitors identify the most relevant location, while integrated maps and a clear enquiry route supported the final stage of the user journey.
From discovering the practice and exploring its projects, through understanding its services and expertise, to making contact, the website was designed as a connected user journey rather than a collection of isolated pages.
Support beyond the website launch
Our involvement did not simply end when the website went live. Technical support remained available after launch whenever the practice required assistance with the live website.
This was not a formal maintenance programme, but it reflected a longer-term approach to web development that continues in our work today. Our current Website Care & Management services extend that principle through structured technical support, maintenance, security, performance and ongoing website management.
Technical support available
Help when required
Letting the architecture remain the focus
Across both generations of the website, the visual language remained deliberately restrained.
A palette of white, charcoal and orange created a recognisable digital identity while allowing architecture, interiors and project photography to remain dominant.
Rather than replacing the character of the first-generation bespoke website during the WordPress redesign, the visual system evolved with the platform, preserving continuity while allowing the underlying technology and content structure to change considerably.
From bespoke CMS to WordPress - and beyond
Muir Walker & Pride demonstrates how a professional website can evolve alongside the organisation it represents.
The first generation combined bespoke PHP development, a custom CMS and classic SEO foundations to solve a specific portfolio and content challenge. The later WordPress redesign expanded that foundation into a broader digital presence capable of supporting more projects, richer company information and more flexible publishing.
Today, our approach connects Web Design & Development, SEO & Search Visibility and AI Search Optimisation more closely than ever. Clear website architecture, useful content, internal relationships and technical accessibility remain important foundations – now supporting discovery across both traditional search engines and AI-powered search experiences.
HTML/CSS + PHP
Portfolio publishing
Technical SEO + local SEO + on-page SEO
Expanded website structure
SEO + AI Search Visibility
From bespoke platform to WordPress redesign
This project reflects the evolution of the Muir Walker & Pride website across two distinct generations – from a bespoke platform built with HTML/CSS, PHP and a custom CMS to a broader and more flexible WordPress redesign.
While the technology, page structure and publishing flexibility developed significantly over time, the core principles remained consistent: present the practice professionally, organise a substantial portfolio clearly and allow architecture and interior design work to remain the visual focus.
FIRST GENERATION
The first version of the website was developed as a bespoke platform with a custom CMS, structured around the architectural portfolio, interior design content and the practice’s wider communication needs.
SECOND GENERATION
The later WordPress redesign expanded the website into a broader digital presence, introducing larger galleries, more structured content areas, improved navigation and greater flexibility for future updates.
SHARED PRINCIPLES
Across both generations, the project remained grounded in clear website architecture, thoughtful presentation, strong visual restraint and solid technical SEO foundations that supported both users and search visibility.
Part of our digital history
Muir Walker & Pride is preserved within the KAIA Design Archive as an example of our earlier website design and development work and the evolution of a substantial professional website across two generations of technology.
Our studio roots date back to 2008 through EART Design / Evident Art, with KAIA Design established in 2011 as our work, clients and experience gradually consolidated under the KAIA name.
The technologies continue to evolve, but the principles remain familiar: understand the content, create a clear structure, build reliable technical foundations and connect design with the way people – and increasingly search and AI systems – discover and understand a business.