Three We-Awards Wins to Kick Off 2026.

Every year, we look for opportunities to celebrate the design and development work we deliver alongside our clients. 2026 has started with not one, but three award wins.

This season, three of our projects were recognised by the We-Awards, independently judged by a panel reviewing thousands of global submissions. We were awarded across Tourism, Media & News, and Open Data & Transparency categories.

It is a strong start to the year, and one we are incredibly proud of. If you are planning a new platform, consolidating systems, or scaling an existing digital product, we would love to talk. You can connect with us here

Here is a closer look at the work behind the wins.

Culture Edinburgh

The City of Edinburgh Council manages some of the city’s most well-known cultural spaces. Previously, their digital presence was distributed across five separate websites.

The goal was to bring these together into a single, cohesive platform.

Culture Edinburgh was designed and built on Payload CMS, with Spektrix integration for ticketing. The new platform unifies music, festivals, museums, and events into one accessible destination.

Key elements include:

• A filterable “What’s On” calendar
  
  
• Integrated ticketing and donation functionality
  
  
• Personalised user accounts and mailing preferences
  
  
• Accessibility-led design decisions
  
  
• A backend manageable by a small internal team
  
  

By consolidating multiple sites into one scalable platform, the Council now has a clearer digital foundation to showcase Edinburgh’s cultural offering and support future growth.

Winning in the Tourism category highlights the value of thoughtful consolidation and user-focused design at civic scale.

Cultaholic

Cultaholic is a major voice in wrestling media, publishing more than 25 articles a day and producing over 1,000 YouTube videos each year. With more than a million annual users, their platform needs to support both editorial pace and fan engagement at scale.

We partnered with Cultaholic to rebuild their website from the ground up using Payload CMS.

The focus was on:

• Improving site performance across devices, particularly mobile
  
  
• Strengthening SEO through improved architecture
  
  
• Streamlining publishing workflows for a high-output editorial team
  
  
• Enhancing content discovery through dynamic tagging
  
  
• Introducing features such as interactive quizzes and light and dark modes
  

The result is a flexible, high-performance platform that supports Cultaholic’s editorial ambitions while offering fans a smoother, more engaging experience.

Recognition in the Media & News category reflects the importance of building infrastructure that can keep pace with modern digital publishing.

Data & Marketing Commission

Regulatory websites have a delicate role. They must balance authority with accessibility and clarity.

We worked with the Data & Marketing Commission to redesign its public-facing website, with a particular focus on usability for two core audiences: individuals making complaints and organisations seeking guidance.

The updated platform:

• Brings the “Make a Complaint” process to the forefront
  
  
• Simplifies user journeys with clearer calls to action
  
  
• Restructures regulatory content for easier navigation
  
  
• Ensures full responsiveness and accessibility across devices
  
  

The outcome is a more intuitive digital experience that maintains the Commission’s credibility while making its processes easier to understand and access.

Recognition in the Open Data & Transparency category reinforces the importance of clarity and trust in regulatory environments.

A Shared Approach

Although these projects span different sectors, the underlying principles were consistent:

• Build for performance and longevity
  
  
• Prioritise accessibility from the outset
  
  
• Design around real user journeys
  
  
• Support internal teams with practical, flexible tools
  
  

Awards are never the objective. The goal is to deliver digital platforms that work well for the organisations behind them and the people who rely on them every day.

We are grateful to have partnered with Cultaholic, Culture Edinburgh and the Data & Marketing Commission on projects that carry real impact. It is encouraging to see that work recognised by the We-Awards this season.

A Word from Arch

Matthew O’Connor, Director of Growth & Product Success Management at Arch, said:

“Each of these projects required a different mindset and a clear understanding of the audience they serve. Our role was to work closely with our partners, define what success looked like, and build platforms that support those goals in a practical, sustainable way. We are pleased to see the work recognised, and we are especially grateful to the teams at Cultaholic, Culture Edinburgh and the Data & Marketing Commission for the collaboration that made these projects possible.”

A Strong Start to 2026

Three categories. Three sectors. Three very different audiences.

What connects them is a shared commitment to performance, accessibility, and building platforms that stand up to real-world use.

We are grateful to work with ambitious partners who trust us with projects that carry real responsibility and reach.

If you are thinking about what your next digital platform could achieve, let’s start the conversation.

Because moments like this are worth celebrating. And they are built on work that lasts far beyond the awards stage.