All construction projects, ranging from a one off house, to a shopping centre, office development, hospital, prison, leisure facility or a refurbishment scheme, start with a client who wants to fulfil a need. An Architect is commissioned to interpret this remit into a stimulating reality, with a Quantity Surveyor to manage the project commercially and a Contractor to deliver the end result.

The steps along this path are demanding, challenging, sometimes frustrating and always difficult. Without the whole team pulling together and contributing their respective talents, this process is torturous and likely to impact adversely on the finished project.

The external facade is only one element of the whole, but is unquestionably the key factor aesthetically, and in performance terms represents the first barrier to the elements.

The client may have strong views on the appearance of the project, the architect will be fully engaged in this design, the quantity surveyor will need to know it can be afforded, the engineer will need to be comfortable that it works, and the builder needs to know it can be constructed safely and effectively.

Any or all of the participants in the professional team will need expert advice to ensure that the final solution is the best one, and that every aspect of the facade, has been thoroughly and carefully thought through and detailed.

We believe James and Taylor Limited are the best vehicle for this service.

To achieve this objective we need to have knowledge of, and full technical and commercial access to all the material options, and to be able to design in and engineer, the solutions to all structures and conditions.

There are literally thousands of facing bricks available, hundreds of cast and natural stones, granites and ceramics, dozens of terracotta solutions and countless metal and composite products to choose from.

To know that the best option is selected would entail meeting hundreds of material producers, seeing thousands of samples and determining that any given manufacturer can provide the level of support and design input that will be demanded, together with being confident that they have the resources to fulfil the contract.

Sufficient time does not exist to carry out this analysis and evaluation and it commonly proves impossible to sort the wheat from the chaff, given that all manufacturers are likely to claim that their products are the best and most suitable.

One phone call to James and Taylor unlocks all the permutations in each product group and allows a dialogue unfettered by affiliation. It embraces an ability to discuss numerous different products used in tandem, and encompasses extensive knowledge of fabrication and methodology, that has resulted from an involvement in so many diverse projects.

We believe that supporting our product knowledge, with the skills of design and engineering produces a unique level of advice and assistance that leads to the right solution.

Optimum product selection and detailing is the start of the process for us. Thereafter we are contracted to deliver the end result. Procurement management, supply strategy and quality auditing are key ingredients in the equation, however these fancy buzz words boil down to supplying the right materials, at the right time to the project, and ensuring that they are of the optimum and highest standard.

We have an obsessive determination to carry out this task, which is made possible by the selection of the best solutions at the outset, and the adoption of the most practical and cost effective methodology.

Construction is a challenge, we welcome the challenge, and we would ask you to contact us to experience the quality of contribution that we can bring to your development.

Bob James, Managing Director