This architect website design service builds websites for architecture firms, independent architects, and interior design studios. Your work looks sharp, yet every page still opens quickly on a phone. Prospective clients can check your STRA number or certificate for themselves, then send a project brief through WhatsApp or a short form. I build each one directly, as a website engineer and technical lead.
It suits architects who take on homes, renovations, commercial buildings, or interiors, from a one-person practice to a firm with several teams. Project management apps and working drawing files are not included. The website is your shop window and the front door for new clients.
In short
- A page for each project, with large photos that still load fast on a phone.
- Your STRA and licence numbers, or an interior designer's competency certificate, shown next to links to the official directories.
- Copy that sells through your work and your process, never through praise you give yourself.
- Project briefs arrive on WhatsApp or through a short form that never asks for land documents.
- The build is paid once. Only the domain recurs, plus a server if you pick one, and malware cleanup is free for 3 months.
- Start with a short note about your practice through the form on the homepage.
Clients judge the work first, then look up who you are
People planning to build or renovate a house often spend months collecting references from Instagram, Pinterest, and directories such as Arsitag. Once they find a style they like, they search the firm's name on Google for one reason. They want to be sure the architect is real, has a track record, and can be reached. A directory lists you among hundreds of other names. Your website is the one place that holds all of your work and the way you work.
Searching on a phone is now normal everywhere. DataReportal's Digital 2026 Indonesia report counted about 230 million internet users in Indonesia at the end of 2025. For an architecture firm, that means prospects open your portfolio on a small screen, often while waiting for something else. A slow page loses them before the second photo appears. They rarely come back.
Credentials prospective clients can check for themselves
Law No. 6 of 2017 on Architects requires every architect to hold an Architect Registration Certificate (STRA). The exceptions are the design of simple buildings and traditional buildings. An STRA is valid for five years, and an architect who works on building projects also needs a licence issued by the provincial government. Article 48 of Government Regulation No. 15 of 2021 gives licence holders the right to put their name and licence number on every piece of work.
Architect websites I build have a credentials block on the profile page. It shows your name exactly as written on the STRA, the STRA number, and the licence number with its province. Beside them sits a link to the STRA Directory of the Indonesian Architects Council (Dewan Arsitek Indonesia). A prospect can type your name there and see the result. Interior designers do not use an STRA, so their block shows a work competency certificate (SKK) with a link to the LPJK construction workforce search.
Credentials anyone can check carry more weight than a line like "experienced professional architect". Homeowners who have heard stories of abandoned building projects tend to pick the firm that puts its numbers in the open. It is a small signal, and it works.
Selling through the work, not through praise
A 2022 study in UNPAR's Jurnal Administrasi Bisnis reads the IAI Code of Ethics as asking architects not to promote themselves in misleading ways. IAI is the Indonesian Institute of Architects. According to that study, the code also rules out advertising in which architects flatter themselves. Article 9 of Law No. 8 of 1999 on Consumer Protection adds a ban on promotion that uses exaggerated words without full information, or promises that are not yet certain.
So the copy on architect websites I build stays away from "the best architect", "the cheapest", or "building permit (PBG) guaranteed". The focus goes to the work, project by project, and to how you work from concept to site supervision. The ways to get in touch stay passive: a WhatsApp button and a brief form. The same study treats passive contact and educational content like this as consistent with the code of ethics.
Publication consent, copyright, and photos
Design rights confuse many people. Law No. 28 of 2014 on Copyright lists architectural works as protected creations, design drawings and scale models included. Article 36 says a work made on commission belongs to the person who made it, unless agreed otherwise. A design you produce for a client is therefore yours, unless the contract says something different.
Showing a client's house on your website is still a question of ethics and contract. The IAI code asks architects to keep client matters confidential without the client's permission, so the website lets you hide the client's name and the project's location. Photos by an architectural photographer need a licence and a credit with the photographer's name. Residents whose faces appear in promotional material must give written consent, under Article 12 of the same law.
One small detail often gets missed. The website labels clearly which images are renders and which are photos of finished buildings, so prospects do not misjudge the work. Working drawings and technical drawings stay off the site. Which projects appear, how they are anonymised, and which photos are used remain your decisions.
A large portfolio that stays light on phones
An architect website almost always holds dozens of high-resolution photos, and that is where many firm websites slow down. Photos you upload through the panel are prepared automatically. A phone downloads no more than its screen needs, while a laptop still gets a sharp image.
The target is to pass Core Web Vitals on phones and laptops, even on portfolio pages packed with photos. The page you are reading was built the same way, and it scored 94 on Lighthouse mobile on 12 October 2026. Once your firm's website is live, you can run that same test on it.
Every project gets its own page with a title, the general location, floor area, year, scope of work, and a short story about the design challenge. Google and AI answers quote pages like these most often. Someone might ask, for example, for "a tropical house architect in Bandung who has worked on narrow plots".
Project briefs on WhatsApp, and a form that does not scare people off
Interested prospects press the WhatsApp button or fill in a short brief form. I test both before launch. The form asks for the city, the type of work (new build, renovation, or interior), the rough land or floor area, a budget range, and the preferred start date. Submissions go to the firm's email. Nothing more is asked. The form never asks for a full address, a land certificate, or building permit (PBG) papers. Documents like those come up only after a first meeting.
The form includes consent for data use under Law No. 27 of 2022 on Personal Data Protection. It also blocks spam without picture puzzles. Chat and email are enough for most firms, because every project starts with a conversation anyway.
A paid consultation booking system, or an online shop for ready-made design packages, makes sense later. By then you need at least one admin, and requests must have outgrown chat. Such a system costs far more, so there is no hurry. I weigh up the same choice in the article on catalogues with WhatsApp orders.
Google Business Profile for studios, including those run from home
The firm's details on the website match its Google Business Profile: name, address, hours, phone, and services such as house design, renovation, or interiors. For architects who work from a home studio and do not receive visitors, Google allows a service area profile that hides the address and lists only the cities served. The appointment button on the profile can point to the brief form on the website.
Tracking, if your firm advertises
When the firm advertises on Instagram or Google, tracking can focus on actions that signal serious interest. Think of a brief form sent, the WhatsApp button pressed, or one project page opened more than once. Tags come from the firm's own ad account and switch on only after the visitor agrees. Without ads, the website stays complete and carries no trackers at all.
A secure firm website, plus a 3 month malware cleanup guarantee
A hacked architect website can show spam pages under the firm's name. It can also swap the WhatsApp button for a number that asks clients for a design deposit. Websites I build get the same protection as this site, which scored A+ on securityheaders.com and Mozilla HTTP Observatory on 12 October 2026. You are free to repeat those tests yourself. I leave the technical steps off this page on purpose, because intruders read public pages too.
For the first 3 months after launch, I clean out any malware that gets in at no extra charge. That 3 month period is written on the proof of payment, and other packages give 1 to 6 months. I remove the malicious code, restore the website files from the latest backup, and close the gaps I find in the website I handed over. The guarantee takes the form of cleanup work, not a compensation payment.
After that period, cleanup becomes a separate project, and a severe case can cost tens of millions of rupiah. The guarantee does not cover passwords your team shares, infected devices, changes made by someone else, or outages at the server or domain provider you chose. Components that age after the guarantee ends without renewal are left out too. The full conditions are on the terms page. I can offer this because removing malware from websites is part of my regular work.
Cost: paid once, with light yearly costs
An architect or interior studio website is paid for once, in stages, with a written breakdown before any work begins. After launch, what recurs is the domain, plus a server if you choose one. Portfolio websites usually run without a monthly server. No builder subscription creeps up in price every year.
Support after handover is optional. You use it for fixes, component updates, or limited help when something comes up. New projects, photos, and team profiles you add yourself through the panel. Needs that appear later, such as an English version for foreign clients or a service page for each city, get a special offer. That costs less than building a new website.
Ready to use in the firm's name; source code only if you need it
What you receive is a ready-to-use website. The built files live on the firm's domain, and the domain and accounts are in your name or your company's. You also get a panel for adding projects and a set of handover documents. The website can move to any hosting provider you pick. If you ever switch to someone else, revoking my access is enough and the firm's website keeps running.
Source code, meaning the project files used to rebuild the website or rework its structure, sits outside the default package. For an architecture firm this keeps the build fee much lower. You still run the portfolio yourself, and my support covers the version I handed over. Buying the code pays off if the firm has its own developers or plans an internal system of its own. That option is priced on its own terms, costs far more, and is sometimes unavailable because of licensed components. The offer says whether it applies.
AI on your own, a vague agency, a free template, or an engineer: how they compare for architecture firms
| Consideration | Building it yourself with AI | An agency with no clear accountability | A free hosting template | Built by an engineer (this service) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Large portfolio photos | Often heavy on phones | Depends | A built-in gallery that loads slowly | Photo sizes prepared automatically for each screen |
| Credentials | Rarely thought of | Depends | No place for them | A block for STRA, licence, or SKK with links to the official directories |
| Promotional copy | Tends to praise itself | Depends on the writer | Sample text that reads like an ad | Sells through the work and the process |
| Security | Nobody keeps watch | Never tested | Updated along with thousands of other sites | Tested with public tools, free cleanup for 3 months |
| Ownership | Yours, and you maintain it | The domain may sit in the agency's name | Locked to the hosting | Domain and accounts in the firm's name |
| Yearly cost | AI tool and builder subscriptions | Monthly retainer | Free until you need a feature | Domain, plus a server if chosen |
AI can produce a tidy firm page in moments. Yet lines like "the number one architect with unrivalled designs" are exactly the kind of promotion the code of ethics steers away from. I described what can go wrong with websites built entirely by AI and never checked in the online store case.
An agency that never says who does the work sometimes registers the firm's domain in its own name. When you part ways, the firm's name stays behind with them. A free hosting template is fine for a single contact page, but its gallery is rarely designed for dozens of projects with large photos.
If your firm needs project management, invoicing, and drawing sharing with clients in one app, a dedicated app provider is the better fit. Your firm's website can then simply link out to it.
Who is behind this architect website design service?
This architect website design service for architects and interior designers is run directly by me, Dicky Ibrohim, website engineer and technical lead. My profile is on the about page. I build websites and applications, fix the ones with problems, and clean up the ones hit by malware, with thousands of cases behind me. AI speeds up the repetitive parts of my work, but I check the result myself. That includes opening every project page on a phone and sending the brief form until it lands in the firm's inbox.
I am not an architect or an interior designer. The work itself, the STRA and licence numbers, client consent to publish, and photo licences all come from you. Whatever I supply is licensed, and whatever you supply is yours to clear.
Process: from a project list to a live website
- Tell me about your practice through the form on the homepage: your services, city, how many projects you want to show, and whether you work with foreign clients.
- A written offer arrives within one or two business days. It sets out the page structure, the schedule, the fee for each stage, server needs, the malware guarantee period, and what support covers.
- A short interview about how the firm works, your credentials, the projects you want to feature, and the questions prospects ask most.
- Text and design: I draft them, then you check them, especially the project pages and the credentials block.
- Testing on phone and laptop: galleries are opened on a slow connection, and the brief form and WhatsApp button are tried until messages arrive. The Google profile is brought in line as well.
- Launch, after which I hand over access, ownership documents, and a guide to adding projects.
What you need to prepare
- The firm's name or the architect's name, an address or list of cities served, a WhatsApp number, and the email that receives briefs.
- Your STRA and licence numbers, or an SKK for interior designers.
- The projects you want to show, with photos, short notes, and each client's consent to publish.
- The photographer's name and the photo licence, if you hire an architectural photographer.
- An outline of how you work and the services you offer.
Eight questions before you pick someone to build an architect website
- Do portfolio photos still open fast on a phone? (Yes, photo sizes are prepared automatically for each screen.)
- Can my STRA and licence numbers appear with a link to the official directory? (Yes, in the credentials block.)
- Can a client's name and project location be hidden? (Yes, in line with what the client allows.)
- Does the brief form ask for land documents? (No. City, type of work, area, budget, and timing are enough.)
- Who owns the domain and accounts? (Your firm.)
- And if the website is ever infected? (For 3 months after launch, as stated on the proof of payment, I clean it up for free.)
- Which costs recur? (Only the domain, and a server if you opt for one; support stays optional.)
- Can an English version be added later? (Yes, through a special offer.)
First step: send me a few of your chosen projects
Prospects choose the architect whose work convinces them, whose credentials can be checked, and whose first step is clear. A website that brings those together, stays light on phones, and makes new projects easy to add is the whole point of this architect website design service.
Tell me about your architecture firm or interior studio through the form on the homepage, or write to hello@dickyibrohim.com. I will reply with a proposed page structure, an estimated cost, and a realistic launch schedule.
Frequently asked questions
How much does architect website design cost?
You pay for the build once, spread over stages, with every item written down. After launch, the running cost is the domain, plus a server only if you pick one; support is optional. The figure depends on how many projects you show and whether the site needs one language or two. I send it once you tell me about your firm through the form on the homepage.
My firm already has Instagram and an Arsitag profile. Do we still need a website?
Instagram and directories show you among many other names and limit how you tell your story. A website holds every project with full details, your way of working, credentials anyone can check, and a brief form. It then links back to your Instagram and directory profiles.
Are architects allowed to advertise through a website?
A website may show your work, your process, and your contact details. According to a study of the IAI Code of Ethics, architects should not run advertising that flatters themselves, and Law 8/1999 bans promises that are not yet certain. So the website sells through the portfolio, not through words like "the best" or "permit guaranteed".
How can prospective clients check my STRA?
The website shows your name as it appears on the STRA, the STRA number, the licence number and its province, and a link to the STRA Directory of the Indonesian Architects Council, where prospects search for your name themselves. Interior designers show their SKK with a link to the LPJK construction workforce search.
Can I show photos of a client's house in my portfolio?
Under Article 36 of the Copyright Law, a commissioned design stays with the architect unless agreed otherwise, but showing a client's house is a matter of ethics and contract. The website lets you hide names and locations, and photos by a photographer are used under licence with the photographer credited.
Will a lot of portfolio photos make the website slow?
Not if they are prepared properly. Photos uploaded through the panel are sized automatically for each screen, so portfolio pages stay quick on phones and sharp on laptops.
What does the project brief form ask?
The city, the type of work (new build, renovation, or interior), the approximate area, a budget range, and the start date. The website never asks for a full address or land documents; those come up after a meeting.
I work from a home studio. Can I still appear on Google Maps?
Yes. Google Business Profile allows a service area profile that hides your address and lists only the cities you serve. The appointment button on that profile can point to the brief form on your website.
Do I receive the source code?
By default you get a ready-to-use website on your firm's domain, with a panel and handover documents, and it can move to any hosting. The source code can be bought separately at a much higher price, when it is available at all; the offer states which applies to you.
What if the firm's website gets malware?
Cleanup is free for 3 months from launch, as stated on the proof of payment; other packages give 1 to 6 months. The guarantee is a cleanup service, not compensation; its scope and exclusions are on the terms page.
