WordPress Website Development for Architecture and Design Firm Client: BCT Design Group | Baltimore, MD
Project Role
WordPress Website Development for Architecture and Design Firm
- Architecture Firm Website Development
- Custom WordPress Development
- ACF Project Portfolio System
- Vimeo Video Integration
- WordPress Performance & CMS Architecture
BCT Design Group is a Baltimore-based architecture and urban design firm with over 55 years of community-centered work spanning mixed-use, retail, housing, hospitality, and senior living — including the ICSC Global Silver Award–winning Lexington Market redevelopment and landmark projects across the Mid-Atlantic, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Founded in 1969 and operating four specialized studios — Master Planning & Placemaking, Architecture, Interior Design, and Experiential Graphics, Branding & Signage — BCT serves real estate developers, institutional owners, and municipalities from offices in Baltimore, Tampa, and Detroit.
Chainlink served as the development partner on this project, working alongside Neiter Creative, who handled visual design. Chainlink’s scope included custom WordPress development using ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) for a structured project portfolio system built on a custom post type, taxonomy-driven filtering by studio service and building sector, Vimeo background video integration across the homepage and project detail pages, and a CMS architecture supporting leadership profiles, a careers section, and a multi-office organizational structure.
The resulting website serves as BCT Design Group’s primary new-business platform — giving prospective developer and institutional clients a clear, organized view of the firm’s 50+ project portfolio across four specialized studios. For a firm whose credibility depends on demonstrating both depth of expertise and breadth of executed work, a site architecture that lets different buyer personas self-segment by practice area and building sector is directly tied to how new clients first evaluate and engage with the brand.
Challenge & Solution
The Challenge
The Solution
Architecture Firm Portfolio & Filtering System
The filterable project portfolio is built on a WordPress custom post type with ACF-powered project fields and taxonomy filtering by service studio and building sector. With 50+ projects spanning mixed-use, retail, housing, and hospitality, the system lets prospective clients self-segment and surface relevant case studies instantly — a critical conversion tool for a firm whose different studios serve fundamentally different buyer types.
Project Detail Pages with Vimeo Video Integration
Each project detail page is driven by ACF custom fields, featuring Vimeo background video, project metadata, photo galleries, and team attribution. The structure ensures every entry functions as a standalone case study — searchable by building type, sector, and location — supporting both client review and organic discovery from developers and owners researching architecture firms by specialization, sector, and geographic market.
Multi-Studio CMS Architecture & Leadership Profiles
The CMS accommodates BCT’s three-office structure and 10-principal leadership team through purpose-built ACF field sets — headshots, titles, studio roles, and pull quotes — displayed across the leadership directory and project attribution pages. Built for internal management, the architecture allows BCT’s team to publish new projects, profiles, and news without developer involvement, keeping the portfolio current as the firm continues to grow.
Architecture Firm Website Development: Common Questions
An effective architecture firm website should include a filterable project portfolio organized by sector and service type, individual project detail pages with photography and client metadata, principal team profiles, a services overview, and a direct contact path for business development. For firms operating multiple studios — like BCT Design Group, which runs separate divisions for Architecture, Planning, Interiors, and Experiential Graphics — a taxonomy-driven portfolio is essential so developers and institutional clients can quickly surface relevant work. Mobile responsiveness and fast page performance are baseline requirements. Contact Chainlink to discuss how to structure your firm’s site for lead generation and client credibility.
A filterable architecture portfolio is typically built on WordPress using custom post types, ACF for structured project data, and a taxonomy structure for sector and service categories. JavaScript-driven filtering on the front end handles live sorting without page reloads. For BCT Design Group’s site, Chainlink built a portfolio supporting 50+ projects filterable simultaneously by studio type — Architecture, Interiors, Planning, Experiential Graphics — and by building sector, including Mixed Use, Retail, Housing, and Hospitality. The result gives each buyer persona — residential developers, commercial operators, senior living clients — a fast path to the work most relevant to their project type.
When an architecture or professional services firm operates multiple specialized studios — each serving different sectors and buyer types — the website’s information architecture has to reflect that complexity without creating friction for visitors. The approach Chainlink used for BCT Design Group involves a taxonomy-driven portfolio where projects are tagged by both service studio (Architecture, Planning, Interiors, Experiential Graphics) and building sector, enabling simultaneous filtering. Navigation, services pages, and team profiles are structured to reflect the firm’s organizational model while maintaining a cohesive brand presence across all four practice areas.
Custom WordPress development for an architecture firm — including a project portfolio system with custom post types, ACF integration, filterable taxonomy, and structured project detail pages — typically starts in the $20,000–$40,000+ range depending on scope. With Vimeo video embeds, animated page transitions, leadership profiles, and multi-office CMS architecture each add to that baseline. Firms working with a separate visual design partner, as BCT Design Group did with Neiter Creative, should budget for design costs separately from development. Chainlink scopes projects based on your firm’s specific requirements.
WordPress with ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) is the most capable CMS for architecture firm websites, particularly for firms managing large, structured portfolios with variable data requirements per project. ACF enables rich custom field sets — location, client, sector, team attribution, square footage, photography, and video — while keeping the interface manageable for non-technical staff. For BCT Design Group’s site, ACF powers both the project portfolio system and the leadership profile directory. Alternatives like Webflow offer visual design flexibility but are harder to scale for firms managing dozens to hundreds of project entries with complex cross-referenced data.