Alexandra Palace is one of London’s most recognisable cultural landmarks, hosting major live events, festivals, exhibitions, and outdoor celebrations across its iconic north London site. Its website plays a vital role in welcoming visitors, promoting events, and supporting ticket sales throughout the year.
HDK has been Alexandra Palace’s digital partner since 2022.
Main photo: Patrick Gunning
Alexandra Palace came to HDK with a legacy portfolio of sites that were struggling under the pressure of a busy events programme. Poor CMS and ticketing integrations meant the sites frequently failed at key moments, at that point when reliability mattered most.
The internal team found it difficult to make content updates quickly, and the ticketing setup wasn’t giving them the control they needed.
The brief was to stabilise things without disrupting the existing design or live event activity.
We started with a thorough understanding of the existing setup before touching anything. Working closely with the Alexandra Palace digital and marketing teams, we stabilised online ticketing and delivered a focused round of development work that strengthened the site’s underlying structure while keeping the front end familiar.
Improvements included rebuilding content blocks using ACF for easier editing, replacing form tools to improve usability and accessibility, and integrating our custom Spektrix plugin for greater control over event data. We also improved how quickly content updates go live, and provided ongoing advice on SEO and site performance during high-traffic periods.
We now act as Alexandra Palace’s strategic web partner, providing day-to-day support, development, and quarterly performance reports to keep the team informed and the site running well.
Technical audit to assess stability, performance, and usability
Online ticketing stabilisation
Content blocks rebuilt using ACF for easier CMS editing
Form tools replaced to improve usability and accessibility
Custom Spektrix plugin integrated for event data control
Improved content update speeds
SEO and performance advice during high-traffic periods
Ongoing support and quarterly performance reports
The Alexandra Palace team now has greater autonomy to update content, manage campaigns, and respond to peak demand during their busiest periods. The site is more stable, more manageable, and better equipped to handle the pressure of one of London’s busiest cultural venues.
The relationship is ongoing. HDK continues to support Alexandra Palace’s long-term plans to evolve their website, keeping it robust and ready for whatever comes next.
ACF content blocks
Content blocks rebuilt using Advanced Custom Fields, making it significantly easier for the internal team to edit and manage pages without development support.
Spektrix integration
A custom Spektrix plugin gives Alexandra Palace greater control over event data, keeping listings accurate and up to date across the site.
Form tools
Replaced existing form tools with a more accessible, user-friendly solution that works better for both the team and site visitors.
Ticketing stabilisation
Addressed underlying issues with ticketing integrations to ensure the site holds up reliably during high-traffic events and on-sale periods.
Quarterly performance reports
Regular reporting gives the Alexandra Palace team a clear picture of how the site is performing and where improvements are being made.
