Portfolio platform for premium automotive restoration business — public showcase website with real-time admin dashboard, intelligent image compression pipeline, and automated inquiry management.
VIEW LIVE SITEBlackline Restoration is a premium automotive restoration business specialising in classic vehicle preservation and custom builds. They needed a digital platform to showcase their portfolio and capture leads — but critically, the owner needed to manage everything independently without ongoing developer support.
The challenge: build a system sophisticated enough to handle high-resolution automotive photography (large files), real-time content updates, and automated inquiry workflows — while keeping the admin interface simple enough for non-technical use.
Public website + protected admin dashboard on serverless infrastructure
Next.js 15.3 + React 19
Static site generation
Tailwind CSS 4
8+ public pages
4-tier service classification
SEO optimised
Protected authentication
Real-time Firestore sync
Project CRUD operations
Image upload + compression
Inquiry management
CSV export
Firebase Cloud Functions
Firestore (3 collections)
Firebase Storage CDN
SendGrid email automation
Auto-scaling (10 instances)
Firebase Hosting
Multi-tier compression achieving up to 91% file size reduction
Compression runs in background Web Workers, preventing UI blocking during multi-image uploads. Users see real-time progress feedback while images process asynchronously.
Files processed in batches of 10 using Promise.allSettled for fault-tolerant uploads. Individual failures don't cascade — successful uploads complete while errors are logged for retry.
91% average compression reduces cloud storage costs proportionally. Automatic thumbnail generation enables fast gallery loading while preserving full-resolution originals for detailed views.
Full CRUD for gallery projects with before/after image categorisation, 6-slot featured homepage management with priority ordering, and unlimited images per project with drag-and-drop reordering.
4-state workflow (new → reviewed → responded → archived) with automated email notifications via SendGrid, inquiry tracking, and CSV export for business analytics.
Firestore subscriptions enable live dashboard updates across multiple admin sessions. Optimistic UI updates provide sub-100ms perceived response times with automatic conflict resolution.
5 sort criteria (date, title, featured, visibility, service type) with bidirectional sorting, multi-filter combinations, and full-text search across 9 fields.
Refresh & Preserve
Maintenance and protection for well-kept vehicles
Heritage Restoration
Period-correct restoration to original specifications
Coachbuilt Restoration
Complete rebuilds with custom bodywork
Signature Commission
Bespoke builds to client specifications
Each tier has distinct visual identity, tabbed navigation, and service-specific inquiry routing to streamline customer journeys.
| FRONTEND | Next.js 15.3, React 19, TypeScript 5, Tailwind CSS 4, Static Site Generation |
| BACKEND | Firebase Cloud Functions v2, Node.js 18, SendGrid API |
| DATABASE | Firestore (3 collections), real-time subscriptions, batch operations |
| STORAGE | Firebase Storage CDN, organised folder structure, automated cleanup |
| IMAGE | browser-image-compression 2.0.2, Web Workers, 4 compression profiles |
| HOSTING | Firebase Hosting, SPA routing, auto-scaling |
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