One Platform, Four Companies: Architecture Behind a Multi-Brand Wellness Platform

The challenge

Therapy House is an integrated wellness centre in Ibadan made up of four registered companies: herbal and spiritual services, dietitian and nutrition therapy, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and substance-use recovery. Each company needed its own identity, services, content and online presence, while the group also needed a hub to bring them together. We needed an architecture that respected both.

Independent apps, shared pattern

We chose to build each company as a standalone web application with its own domain, backend and database, rather than one large shared system. That means a problem in one company's site cannot affect another's, and each can evolve on its own timetable. To keep the work manageable, the companies follow a common pattern. When we improve the layout, the API or a component, we apply it consistently to each application.

Data-driven pages

Instead of hand-writing every page, we made company identity and inner pages data. Brand details, key services, navigation, company facts, policies and resource pages are all described in structured files, and generic components render them. Adding a service or changing a heading becomes an edit to data, not a redesign, and consistency comes for free.

A simple, secure backend

Each application talks to its own lightweight PHP API with a MySQL database, hosted separately from the front end. The front end is a fast single-page app delivered through Vercel. Security is built into the API: sessions stored as hashed records, anti-forgery tokens, rate limiting on forms, honeypot fields to catch bots, audit logging and clear staff roles such as administrator, clinician and front desk. Only the roles that need them can read clinical notes.

Online payments

Where a company takes payments, we integrate a payment gateway and verify transactions on the server before recording them. Keeping payment logic in each company's own API means each business has its own records.

Compliance and content care

Health websites carry a particular responsibility. We followed clear content rules: no guarantees of cures or outcomes, no promises about fixed numbers of sessions, herbal and spiritual content that never replaces medical care, services that are not yet available marked clearly as planned or coming soon, and forms that do not collect sensitive health histories. Company registration is shown accurately and is never presented as a clinical licence. These decisions protect visitors and the business.

Lessons

• Separate systems reduce risk, but you need a repeatable pattern to keep them consistent.
• Treat content as data wherever you can.
• Build security features into the API from the start.
• For health and wellness, accurate claims matter as much as good design.
• Plan deployment and backups early, including scripts to automate them.

See the result

You can see the finished platform in our portfolio, and if you need a multi-brand or multi-location system, we would be happy to discuss your requirements.