Showcase project
A Sydney architecture studio’s folio website, a client portal for quotes and progress, a back-office project board and a phone app for site inspections, all working from one set of project records.
The brief
Halden is a small Sydney studio designing new houses, renovations and the odd commercial fit-out. Their folio was spread across Instagram and a slide deck, so there was no single place to send someone who asked to see their work.
Enquiries arrived as vague emails with no budget or brief, and the first call went on finding out the basics. Once a project was underway, clients phoned to ask where it was up to. Inspectors worked from paper on site, then typed their notes up again back at the office.
What we built
The website brings work in, the portal keeps clients in the loop, the back office runs the studio and the site app goes out on inspections. Here is each part.
Website
The folio moved off Instagram and onto the studio’s own site. Visitors filter by houses, renovations or commercial work, then open a project to see the full photo set and the basics: type, suburb and year.
Website
Instead of an open email, the form asks for the project type, the suburb and a budget range before anyone books a call. The studio starts the first conversation with the brief already in hand.
Website
One overview page shows how many people visited, which project pages they opened, where they came from and how many sent an enquiry. No reports to decode, just the handful of numbers the studio checks.
Client portal
Clients log in to see their project, a five-step progress line from concept to construction, the latest quote and what has changed recently. The questions that used to need a phone call are answered on one screen.
Client portal on phones
On a phone the portal splits into simple tabs. Clients follow each stage with its date, open plans and council letters as PDFs, and message the studio in one thread instead of a trail of emails.
Client portal
Each quote is itemised so the client can see what they’re paying for, and it is approved with one button. Invoices sit underneath with a Pay now button, so nobody has to chase a bank transfer.
Back office
Inside the studio, every job sits on a board by stage: enquiry, concept, documentation and on site. Each card shows the suburb, who is working on it and how far along it is, and opens into the full project on a phone.
Site app
Inspectors open the app to see the day’s visits in order, with a map. Each visit has the address, the time, a Get directions button and a Start inspection button, and the week view shows what’s coming up.
Site app
Photos go straight into the inspection, the checklist is ticked off, and the inspector signs on the screen. The finished report goes to the client portal, so nothing is typed up again back at the office.
Site app
Building sites often have patchy reception. The app keeps working offline, saves each inspection on the phone, and syncs the photos and notes once it’s back online.
Summary
Everything works from one set of project records. An enquiry from the website becomes a card on the back-office board. When the studio issues a quote, it appears in the client’s portal, ready to approve. When an inspector signs off a site visit on the phone, the report lands in the same portal, next to the timeline and the invoices. Nothing is typed in twice.
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