Architecture, Housing, and Urban Design
- WordPress and Zealous
- Architecture, Housing, and Urban Design
- WordPress Development, Competition Platform Integration, UX Design, Content Structure, Registration Workflows
- 2025-2026
Project Overview
This project involved the design and development of a custom WordPress website for the Missing Middles initiative, a civic focused program advancing small scale, attainable housing through design research and public engagement.
The site serves as both a public facing information hub and an operational platform supporting a national architectural design competition. It integrates educational content, competition details, registration workflows, legal documentation, and external submission tooling.
The goal was to create a clear, accessible experience for architects, designers, students, and community stakeholders while supporting a complex set of requirements behind the scenes.
The site was designed to function as both a marketing platform and a scalable content foundation.
The Challenge
The primary challenge was organizing a large volume of detailed information without overwhelming users. The site needed to communicate competition rules, schedules, goals, eligibility requirements, and submission processes in a way that was easy to navigate and understand.
Additional complexity came from coordinating between WordPress content and an external competition platform while maintaining a consistent user experience across systems.
The site also needed to balance professional credibility with approachability, serving both experienced practitioners and first time competition participants.
The Solution
We designed and built a fully custom WordPress website with a clear content hierarchy and predictable navigation structure. Each section of the site was intentionally planned to guide users through the competition process step by step.
The competition workflow was supported through integration with the Zealous platform, allowing submissions, registration, and payments to be handled externally while keeping WordPress as the central source of truth for information.
Legal documentation, frequently asked questions, and detailed briefs were structured to be easily accessible and scannable, reducing friction for participants at every stage.
Site Structure & Key Features
Homepage & Brand Positioning
The homepage introduces the Missing Middles initiative, its mission, and its relevance to housing challenges in Sacramento. Content is organized to quickly communicate purpose while directing users toward the active design challenge and key resources.
Visual elements support credibility and civic context without distracting from the primary calls to action.
Design Challenge Pages
A dedicated page was created for the Sacramento Three and Up Challenge, including competition details, goals, critical dates, prizes, jury information, and downloadable resources.
This page is structured to support both first time visitors and returning participants looking for specific information.
Registration and Submission
The site integrates directly with the Zealous competition platform to handle registrations, submissions, and fees. Users are guided seamlessly from informational content into the submission workflow without confusion or redundant steps.
This approach keeps the user experience cohesive while leveraging a specialized platform for competition management.
Documentation and Complience
Legal pages including terms and conditions, privacy policy, rules, and intellectual property agreements were structured clearly and linked contextually throughout the site.
This ensures transparency and compliance while maintaining trust with participants and partners.
Design & User Experience
The design prioritizes clarity, readability, and consistency across devices. Typography, spacing, and layout choices were made to support long form reading and detailed review of competition materials.
Navigation is intuitive and structured to reflect how users naturally move through the competition process. The overall aesthetic supports the initiative’s civic and professional positioning without feeling overly institutional.
Outcome
The finished website provides a stable and scalable platform for managing a national design competition while supporting the broader goals of the Missing Middles initiative.
It enables clear communication, efficient participation, and ongoing program growth. The site is easy to manage, adaptable for future challenges, and positioned to support additional cities and programs over time.
What This Project Demonstrates
This project demonstrates The Nine Muses approach to complex WordPress builds that require more than standard marketing pages.
It highlights the ability to combine thoughtful content structure, external platform integrations, and user centered design to support real world programs with operational complexity and public impact.
Considering a Similar Project?
If you’re looking to build or refine a WordPress site that balances clarity, content, and growth, we’d be happy to discuss your goals.