Before commissioning an architecture project case study, give the writer a brief that separates publishable facts from questions still awaiting approval. A folder of photographs can show the finished work, but it may not explain the client’s needs, your practice’s role or which details can be named publicly.
This template is for firm principals and marketing leads preparing a project story for their own website. Use one record per project. It is a writing brief, rather than a design brief for a new building or a request to rebuild the whole website.
Choose the reader and purpose first
Identify who should recognize relevant experience in this project: a homeowner, developer, institutional client or another audience your practice serves. State what you want that reader to understand about your work. “Show how we handled an occupied site” gives the writer a clearer direction than “make the project sound impressive.”
Select a project with enough approved information to support that purpose. A short account with a clear contribution can be more useful than a longer narrative padded with generic design language. If the project is unbuilt or ongoing, make its stage part of the brief.
Copy this project case study brief
Use the fields below in a document your team controls. Add a source or responsible reviewer beside each factual answer. “Not confirmed” is a useful entry; it stops an unresolved detail being mistaken for an approved statement.
| Brief field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Project identity | Approved public name, broad location, project type and current stage. Note any details that must remain unnamed. |
| Intended reader | The client group and the relevant service or experience this story should help them assess. |
| Original need | What the client needed to achieve, expressed in approved terms rather than an invented quotation. |
| Practice contribution | The services and stages your firm delivered, with collaborators’ roles distinguished. |
| Important constraint | A specific site, programme or delivery condition that shaped the work, plus the person confirming it. |
| Design response | The decisions your team made in response and the records or reviewer supporting the explanation. |
| Documented outcome | What can be stated accurately. Give the source, period and limitations for any measured result. |
| Assets and credits | The selected photographs or drawings, approved captions, required credits and permission status. |
| Writing deliverable | Whether you need a short project description, a fuller case study or both; identify the intended page. |
| Review owner | Who checks facts, resolves permissions and gives final publication approval. |
Mark uncertainty before turning notes into copy
Keep three simple labels beside the material: approved for publication, internal background only, and needs confirmation. A working note is not automatically public copy. Your practice decides which client information, locations, drawings and technical details can be shared.
If you cannot substantiate an outcome, leave the result out or describe only the verified project status. Do not turn a design intention into a measured performance claim. Client quotations, awards and certifications need their own approved wording and source; none should be added simply because a page format has space for them.
Agree what the writer hands back
Ask for a draft that follows the agreed purpose and identifies unresolved facts separately. Name the number of projects, required formats, review rounds and final delivery format in the proposal. Decide who supplies captions, selects images and uploads the finished copy; those are different tasks from writing the narrative.
The first project can be reviewed for voice and structure before the rest of the set is drafted. Use the architecture portfolio copywriting scope when commissioning that work. If it is part of a rebuild, connect the writing responsibilities to your website redesign brief.
Check the connection to the rest of the website
Identify the service or sector page that makes this project relevant, and the existing enquiry route a prospective client should use. For wider search decisions, see SEO services for architecture firms. A project brief supports accurate writing; it does not establish search demand or guarantee a commission.
Discuss your architecture project writing brief. Share your public website, your role and the type of project copy you need. Keep confidential client material and passwords out of the initial enquiry. Sending a brief begins a scope discussion; it does not book a meeting or authorize paid work.
