Project 01 — 2025
Haptic Architects needed a digital presence that matched the ambition and rigour of their built work — not another generic architecture portfolio.
The practice had outgrown its previous website. Projects were buried, the CMS was unworkable, and the brand positioning had drifted. Directors wanted to attract higher-value commissions and needed a platform that communicated their design intelligence clearly and fast — to clients who would spend 90 seconds deciding whether to get in touch.
Haptic Architects — Homepage, desktop view
Challenge
The previous website had been built on a template. It looked like every other architecture practice online — and that was the problem. Haptic's work is genuinely distinctive: materiality-led, technically precise, quietly experimental. None of that came through digitally.
The existing CMS meant project updates took half a day. Navigation was buried. On mobile, the site collapsed entirely. Three practice directors couldn't tell me what differentiated them from a competitor without a five-minute preamble.
Previous website — homepage, before redesign
The underlying business problem was clear: strong studio, weak signal. The work was winning awards. The website wasn't winning enquiries.
Solution
Before opening Figma, I spent two weeks on brand positioning — interviewing three directors, mapping competitor positioning, and defining what Haptic actually stands for beyond the obvious. The result was a clear strategic direction: materials intelligence for complex buildings.
That phrase — and the thinking behind it — became the foundation for every design decision. Typography that feels architectural. A project index that prioritises material and programme over photography. Copy that speaks to structural engineers and planning committees, not just design critics.
Typographic system and colour tokens — Figma design file
The Webflow build uses a fully structured CMS with custom fields for material palette, building programme, structural engineer, and planning authority. Project filtering runs via Finsweet CMS Filter — no custom code, fully manageable by the team.
"The brief was clear from the start: make us look like who we actually are — not who we used to be."
— Creative Director, Haptic Architects
Project index page — desktop, list view with CMS filter system
Results
Within three months of launch, the practice received two new enquiries directly attributable to the website — both from contacts who found the studio through search. Organic traffic increased significantly and the bounce rate dropped from 74% to 41%.
+210%
Organic search traffic in 3 months post-launch
41%
Bounce rate — down from 74% on previous site
×2
New enquiries direct from website in first quarter
The internal impact was equally significant. The practice now publishes projects independently. The CMS training session took 40 minutes. Three months in, seven projects had been added without any involvement from me.
Haptic Architects — Project detail page, Ancoats residential scheme
Gallery
Mobile view — project index with filter interaction
About page and team section — desktop
Contact page — Webflow form with conditional logic
"Alice understood the practice before she understood the brief. The result is a website that actually represents how we think — not just what we've built."
Sarah Mathews
Director, Haptic Architects
Next Project
← Back to all workWhitby Wood Engineers
→