Arup Website Technical Realignment

The challenge

The Content Management System (CMS) for the Arup corporate website had done sterling work for a number of years, but was badly in need of an overhaul to take advantage of improvements in server technology and coding techniques. Planned future enhancements to the site would also require a firm technical foundation.

Arup approached us to redevelop the technical underpinnings of the site, whilst retaining the existing visual design and information architecture.

The solution

During consultation, we decided to not only completely redevelop the database and secure CMS, but also upgrade the front-end to take advantage of recent developments in web standards and stylesheets.

The new CMS adds some much needed functional enhancements such as full page versioning with rollback and automatic image resizing and optimisation. The streamlined workflows save administration time and make the content authoring interface simpler and more intuitive. The updated architecture and database structure improves the modularity and long-term stability of the application.

Rebuilding the front-end website code to follow the latest XHTML and CSS standards-based techniques means simpler cross-platform delivery, improved accessibility and reduced browser compatibility problems.

The outcome

The new technology behind the Arup website has made content management easier and given the website a firm foundation for future development. Along with other advantages, it is estimated that switching to web standards will save approximately 42GB of bandwidth per month.