How We Built a Portfolio-Led Website for an Alaska Architecture Firm
Alder Architecture & Design, LLC is a full-service architecture firm in Wasilla, Alaska, established in March 2015 by principal architect and owner Anna M. Lee, AIA, LEED AP. The practice covers residential, commercial, and community projects across the Mat-Su Valley and the rest of the state, from private homes to the Alaska State Fair Event Center.
A firm with that reach has a positioning problem. A homeowner planning a custom build and a municipality planning a public facility are not looking for the same evidence, and one generic services page serves neither of them well. Alder needed a site that sorts the work by what the visitor actually came for.
A Dark, Gallery-Style Frame That Puts the Buildings Forward
- A near-black canvas so photography and renderings read the way they would on a gallery wall
- A mosaic homepage grid mixing finished builds, renderings, and a standing Contact tile
- The Alder script wordmark and pinecone mark carried through as the only decorative element
- A layout that holds together on phones, where most first visits to a local firm begin
Dark backgrounds are a risk on most sites. They work here because every tile in the grid is a photograph, and the frame simply gets out of the way.
A Portfolio Filtered the Way Clients Think
- Projects sorted by Residential, Commercial, Community, Under Construction, In Progress, and Transformations
- A dedicated page per project on its own URL, including The Bluff House, The River Barn, The Girdwood Ski House, and The Wasilla Veterans Wall of Honor
- Civic and public work shown next to private residences, which is what carries weight on a municipal shortlist
- A Transformations filter so renovation work can be found on its own terms instead of buried among new builds
Giving every project its own URL matters beyond navigation. Each one becomes a page that can rank, be linked to, and be sent to a selection committee on its own.
Process and Services Written Out in Full
- A Services page covering site visits, schematic design, and the phases that follow
- A separate Our Process page walking through pre-design, schematic design, and construction administration
- Plain-language explanations of what happens in each phase, written for clients who have never hired an architect
- A Community page for the civic and volunteer work the practice is known for locally
Most architecture sites stop at a services list. Spelling out the phases answers the question first-time clients are quietly worried about, which is what they are committing to and when.
Credentials and People Made Visible
- Anna M. Lee’s AIA, LEED AP, and NCARB credentials stated plainly, with licensure in Alaska, Montana, and Idaho
- The full team listed by name and role, including Revit and production staff
- Office address, phone, email, and business hours in the footer of every page
- A WordPress build the firm owns and controls outright
Architecture is a licensed profession and clients check. Putting registrations and named staff on the page removes a step the prospect would otherwise take somewhere else.
Need a website that gets your firm onto the shortlist?
Alder Architecture & Design is live at alderarch.com. If you run an architecture firm that bids residential, commercial, and civic work, see our custom website design for architects.
