MLA+
Architecture - Urban Planning2025Custom Portfolio Platform for a Global Architecture Firm
A custom platform for a global architecture practice with 900 projects and no template that could contain them.
Overview
MLA+ is a Rotterdam-based architecture and urban planning firm founded in 1992 as the international branch of Maccreanor Lavington, and independent since 2012. With offices in Shenzhen and Riyadh, a team of 100+ across disciplines, and a portfolio spanning 900+ projects worldwide, the firm has earned 70+ international awards across masterplans, landscapes, architecture, and urban consultancy.
Their website didn't reflect any of it. The existing site was functional but static, built around general information rather than the portfolio that defines the practice. Projects weren't filterable. The visual identity the firm had built over 30 years wasn't present in the design. Internal editors had no reliable workflow to keep the site current across three international offices.
We rebuilt the platform from scratch on a fully custom WordPress theme with no templates and no page builders. The engagement covered discovery and content architecture, full design, platform build, UAT, launch, and CMS training. At handover, the internal team took full control of a site built to stay relevant.
The Challenge
How do you build a website that does justice to 900 projects, 30 years, and three continents?
MLA+'s work spans masterplans, landscapes, architecture, and urban consultancy across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. Their existing site could not carry that scope. Projects were not filterable by discipline or geography. The visual experience did not match a firm with 70+ international awards. And because the CMS was difficult to work with, the site drifted further behind with each passing month.
The portfolio structure alone was a technical challenge. 900+ projects needed to be discoverable across five dimensions simultaneously: discipline, geography, project type, expertise area, and year. That is not a standard content taxonomy. It required a custom post type architecture and a filtering system capable of multi-dimensional queries without breaking the visual experience.
Then there were the operational demands: three offices across three time zones, content in multiple languages that needed to scale to 10+ including RTL, a team directory, a careers module with application forms, and a newsroom built for search from the first post. At handover, the internal team had to run all of it independently.
Our Approach
We started with the architecture of the content. Everything else followed from there.
Discovery & content architecture
We spent three weeks mapping MLA+'s content before writing a line of code. The portfolio taxonomy required a structure that could handle five simultaneous filter dimensions across 900+ projects. We mapped each dimension, validated it with the internal team, and defined how content would flow between offices in Rotterdam, Shenzhen, and Riyadh.
Stakeholder sessions surfaced the full operational picture: who maintains what, how the editorial workflow needed to function, and what the team had to be able to do independently from day one of handover.
- Five-dimension portfolio taxonomy: discipline, geography, type, expertise, and year
- Content flow mapping across Rotterdam, Shenzhen, and Riyadh
- CMS requirements defined directly with the editorial team before design began
Design
We built the visual language around the firm's architectural sensibility: considered, confident, and designed to carry large-scale imagery. The homepage leads with dynamic visuals and scroll interactions. Every project detail page was built to be experienced, not just read.
Scroll-triggered animations, full-screen media, and a multi-dimensional filtering interface that stays readable under heavy use. The design was finalized at full fidelity before the first line of code was written.
Platform build
We built a fully custom WordPress theme with no page builder dependencies. The portfolio runs on a custom post type with AJAX-driven filtering across five dimensions: fast, stable, and fully manageable through the CMS. The newsroom, team directory, and careers module were all built to the same standard.
Multilingual support was structured from the start to scale to 10+ languages, including RTL, without a codebase change. The careers module handles job listings, individual job pages, and application forms. Every module hands off cleanly to the CMS.
- Custom WordPress theme: no templates, no page builders
- Portfolio filtering across 5 dimensions, AJAX-driven
- Multilingual support scalable to 10+ languages including RTL
- Careers module: listings, individual job pages, and application forms
- Newsroom with SEO-ready structure from the first post
CMS training & handover
We ran structured CMS training sessions with the internal team before launch. By handover, they could add and edit projects, manage team profiles, publish news, update job listings, and handle all site content without our involvement.
The three-month support period after launch gave the team time to build confidence with the platform. Questions came up, and we resolved them as they did.
Outcomes
We started with the architecture of the content. Everything else followed from there.
increase in active website visitors
PageSpeed Score
of all visitors through organic search
Engagement Timeline
Engagement Timeline
Kickoff & discovery
Stakeholder sessions, content mapping, portfolio taxonomy, and CMS requirements.
Design
Full design system, page templates, scroll interactions, and filtering UI.
Core Build
Portfolio, newsroom, about, and contact, filterable and CMS-editable.
Full Platform
Homepage, team directory, careers, multilingual setup, and all system pages.
Launch & Handover
UAT complete, CMS training delivered, site live, three-month support begins.
Ready when you are
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