It sounds like you might be looking for an application + database. Have a look at 37Signals Basecamp (
http://basecamp.com/one-page-project). While it is a project management application, it also has all the features you need for each "building project." Seems like a good fit. You could also use it for actual project management.
For something more custom, you might try out Drupal, and construct your own custom content types - "building projects" with all of the parameters you need (photos, details etc.)
If you are looking to BUILD your own (programming), then the following will be more useful:
I suggest taking a look at Ruby on Rails, which provides some better framework / starting point than basic PHP / MySQL. The Rails framework (Ruby is the language) lets you write minimal code and create views VERY quickly. Ruby on Rails will work with multiple databases including MySQL, but in reality the underlying database is not as important (for a small business at least) once you have a good framework in place on top of it. Learn more about Ruby:
http://rubyonrails.org/screencastsIf you already have familiarity with PHP, then you might try CakePHP, which is a Rails-like framework for PHP.
http://cakephp.org/If you're into Java, there is also Groovy + Grails which is essentially, again, the same paradigm.