Have you ever walked past a gate and stopped to admire the design, to luxuriate in the small details that delight the eye of anyone with an appreciation for controlled chaos? Have you ever looked at a staircase and marvelled at the form of the staircase, the statement of beauty – often completely incorporated into its function – that spoke to you in a way that could be understood only by an initiated few. If this describes you, then you’ve probably encountered a BB Fabrication production.

It’s a fabrication business, mainly metal, but these guys make everything from driveaway gates to structural steel beams, railing to fire exit security doors. You can go to them with just a supply of steel. But BB Fabrication makes more than steel; it makes art. Art that is manufactured, painstakingly detailed and quality that’s increasingly impossibly hard to find.

I try to ignore the emphasis on STEM that 21st-century history will surely give knowledge; I try to imagine that quality depends on allowing the humane part of humanity to continue to produce. What does humane mean, in this context? The truth is, parts, subassemblies and materials are available on the market as readily as we like.