Newel

Newel.

Websites for architects, builders and structural engineers.

The newel is the post at the foot of a staircase. Everything else is anchored to it. That is the job we do for a practice online.

DATUM
Fig. 01   Newel post, elevation
4
Trades we build for
7
Checks before we write
2 to 4
Weeks to build
100%
Yours at handover
01 What we do

Your work is precise.
Your website should be too.

Practices that produce exacting buildings very often have a site that does not show it. Usually because it was built once, years ago, by whoever was cheapest, and nobody has had a reason to look at it since.

A

Rebuilds

You have a site and it is holding you back. We keep what works, fix the structure, and make it read properly on a phone.

B

First sites

You have run on word of mouth and a social page. This is the version that stands on its own when somebody looks you up at eleven at night.

C

Project pages

One finished building, photographed properly and written up so it can be sent to a client on its own.

02 Demonstrations

Four trades, four
different answers.

A structural engineer and an interiors studio are not selling the same thing, so they should not get the same website. These are working pages, running live below. Open any of them and use it.

These are demonstrations, not client projects. The practices shown do not exist. We built them to show how each trade is handled differently, and they will be replaced by real work as it ships.

Architecture practiceEditorial, image led, very little text
Open
Atelier Nord  ·  demonstration
Custom builderWarm, proof forward, phone number always visible
Open
Halden Build  ·  demonstration
Structural engineerTechnical, dense, credentials doing the work
Open
Coreline Structural  ·  demonstration
Interiors studioQuiet, serif, mostly space
Open
Room & Grain  ·  demonstration
03 The check

We look at your site before
we ever write to you.

Every approach we send names something specific and checkable about your own site. No guessing, and nothing you cannot verify in ten seconds.

CheckWhy it costs you work
Phone layoutA page with no viewport rule has to be pinched and zoomed. Most people looking up a practice are on a phone.
CertificateA site on plain http shows a Not Secure warning in the address bar. First time visitors leave when they see it.
Load timeEnquiries fall away sharply past about three seconds, and most practice sites are heavier than they need to be.
Contact routeNo phone number or email on the homepage means somebody ready to call has to go looking, and often does not.
Last touchedA footer still showing a year from a while back makes an active practice look quiet.
Page titleA missing or default title is what search results show. It is the first thing anyone reads about you.
PlaceholderA holding page, a parked domain or a dead link. More common than you would think, and invisible from the inside.
04 What you get

Everything, and the keys to it.

No retainer you cannot leave, no platform that holds your content hostage, and no monthly fee to change a phone number.

01

Up to eight pages

Or one page done properly, if that is genuinely all you need. We will say which.

02

Projects written up

Each building gets what it needed, what you did, and photographs shown at a size worth looking at.

03

Built for the phone first

Designed at 390 pixels wide before it is designed for a laptop, because that is where it will mostly be read.

04

Speed budget

Under 1.5 seconds on a normal mobile connection, and we will show you the measurement.

05

You own all of it

The files, the domain, the hosting account. Nothing is registered in our name.

06

Add a project yourself

A short written guide for the one thing you will actually want to do without calling anyone.

05 How it runs

Four steps, and you
see something at each one.

01

The check

We go through the list on your current site and send you what we found. This costs nothing and you keep it whether or not we work together.

02

One page, built

Before you commit to anything, we build a single real page of your new site so you can open it on your own phone. Not a mockup and not a slide.

03

The build

Two to four weeks depending on how many projects go in. You watch it go up on a live link as it happens, not at the end.

04

Handover

It goes live on your domain. You get the files, the logins and a short written guide. Nothing is locked to us.

06 How it is built

The standards we hold
ourselves to.

This page meets every line below, and so does each demonstration above. Open the developer tools and check. That is the point of publishing them.

MeasureTarget
First loadUnder 1.5 seconds on a normal 4G connection
Page weightUnder 500 KB for a full page including images
Without scriptsThe whole site still reads with JavaScript switched off
ContrastWCAG AA on every piece of text, checked rather than assumed
TrackersNone by default. If you want analytics we will use something that does not follow people around
Third partiesNo fonts, scripts or styles loaded from anyone else's server
OwnershipPlain files. Any developer can pick it up after us
07 Fit

We are not right
for everyone.

Better to say so here than three weeks in.

A good fit

  • You have finished work you are proud of
  • Somewhere between two and thirty people
  • Projects worth enough that one extra enquiry pays for this several times
  • Someone who can answer questions and make a decision
  • You already know the current site is not good enough

Not a good fit

  • You want the cheapest possible site
  • Nothing is photographed yet and there is no budget to fix that
  • You need it live next week
  • The decision needs six people to agree
  • You want us to also do branding, print and social
08 Questions

The ones people
actually ask.

What does it cost?
A full site starts at [YOUR FIGURE]. A single project page starts at [YOUR FIGURE]. You get a fixed number before any work begins, and it does not move unless you ask for something that was not in it.
How long does it take?
Two to four weeks from the point we have your photographs and your project list. The check takes a day. The one built page takes about three.
Do I have to write the words?
No. We draft everything from one conversation and you correct it. You know the buildings better than we ever will, so the facts come from you, but you should not have to sit in front of a blank page.
What about photographs?
If you have professional photographs we will use them properly. If you do not, that is worth fixing before the site, and we will say so rather than build something that cannot work.
Who owns it afterwards?
You do. The domain, the hosting account and the files are all registered in your name from the start. If you want to move to someone else, you take everything with you and you do not need our permission.
I already work with a designer.
Then you need someone to build it, and we will work to their drawings. That is a normal arrangement and often a better result than either of us alone.
Do you do logos and branding?
No. We build websites for one kind of client and we are better for staying narrow. We can point you at people who do the rest.
What if I do not like it?
That is what step two exists for. You see one real page, on your own phone, before you commit to the build. If it is wrong we either fix it or you walk away having paid nothing.
09 Start

Send us your address
and we will look.

One line with your web address is enough. We go through the seven checks and write back with what we found, whether or not there is anything in it for us. No call required, and nothing gets added to a list.

Reply within one working day