Overview
ALTU Architects is an award-winning architectural practice based in Dublin, Ireland, offering a comprehensive range of design and professional services across a number of strategic sectors including residential, office, healthcare and retail.
Originally founded as Lafferty Architects in 1997, the firm was rebranded to ALTU in 2020 to align more closely with their evolving vision and values. With the new identity in place, they sought a website that reflected this refreshed brand – leading them to partner with Matrix Internet for its development.
My responsibilities during the project
- Partnered with UX Lead on wireframes
- Led the creation of high-fidelity UI across core user journeys
- Collaborated with developers on QA to ensure design accuracy
🏔️ The challenge
- Brand launch: Elevate Altu’s new brand and showcase its impressive project portfolio
- Human connection: Balance large-scale projects with the company’s personal, human side
- Engagement: Increase interactions through social media integration
💡 The solution
- UX-driven design: Workshops to define personas, client goals, and brand requirements
- Visual storytelling: Bespoke graphics balancing projects, company updates, and processes
- Seamless launch: Development, content migration, QA, and staff training for confident site management
📈 The impact
- Enhanced online presence: Informative, engaging, and user-friendly site
- Empowered staff: Able to manage and update content effectively
- Measurable growth: Increased visitors, engagement, and conversions, strengthening Altu’s rebrand
Framing the user experience
ALTU aimed to develop a state-of-the-art website that reflects its brand identity and reinforces its position as a forward-thinking, design-led architectural practice. The design process began with a marketing and UX workshop, which explored customer needs, competitive landscape, and content strategy. The insights gathered during this workshop directly informed the website’s structure, navigation, and design, ensuring a platform that is both user-friendly and visually compelling.
Key takeaways from the workshop:
- Customer personas & journeys: Identified target users, such as chairmen and managing directors and mapped their interactions with the website
- SWOT analysis: Evaluated strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to equip ALTU with a strong strategy
- Competitor benchmarking: Competitor review on websites like SOM, Bold and MCA to identify best practices
- Sitemap & content structure: Defined site hierarchy, navigation, and content prioritisation based on workshop discussion
- Brand alignment: Ensured design reflects ALTU’s design-led identity and values
- User experience goals: Focused on intuitive navigation, engaging project presentation, and clear storytelling
Bringing ALTU’s brand to life online
Building on insights from the marketing and UX workshop, the design process translated strategic findings into a visually compelling, user-centric website that reflects ALTU’s design-led identity. Every design decision focused on balancing the company’s premium architectural brand with an intuitive, seamless online experience.
Key steps in the design process:
- Ideation & concept: Transformed workshop insights into visual and functional concepts aligned with ALTU’s brand
- Visual design & branding: Crafted striking imagery, elegant typography, and cohesive iconography reflecting the architectural ethos
- Content & navigation: Structured sitemap and hierarchy for intuitive exploration and clear storytelling
- UX refinement: Optimised interactions using persona and journey insights for a smooth stakeholder experience
- Benchmarking & validation: Applied competitor best practices and internal reviews for a polished, modern site
Impact
The redesigned ALTU website brings the company’s design-led brand to life online, combining striking visuals, elegant typography, and intuitive navigation. It delivers a seamless, user-centric experience that showcases projects, communicates the firm’s ethos, and positions ALTU as a forward-thinking leader in architecture.