Born in 1925 and raised in suburban Philadelphia, Taylor was third of four children of Marjorie and Gordon Hardwick, an insurance executive.

Taylor then attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, where he received a bachelor's degree and Masters of Architecture in 1947.

[5] Hardwick moved to Jacksonville in 1949 and spent three years working at the firm W. Kenyon Drake & Associates before opening his own architectural design practice.

In recent years the label Mid-Century modern has been applied to the work of Hardwick & Lee and many of their prominent contemporaries.

In 1965 the firm completed their two largest and most important public commissions: Friendship Park and Fountain and the Haydon Burns Library.

Mr. Hardwick worked on the library building's design over a span of five years, and his comprehensive plan specified all interior furnishings, graphics and the use of innovative, free-standing book shelves.

The eventual developer, Main Branch, LLC met with Hardwick and he was pleased that the exterior would remain mostly unchanged.

Begun in 1963 and opened in March 1965, the fountain was billed as the "World's Tallest and Largest" and became a popular tourist attraction.

The three pumps had a combined 750 horsepower (560 kW) and could push 17,000 gallons per minute; some streams were as tall as a 10-story building.

German manufacturer Hansgrohe, a producer of high-end plumbing fixtures, featured Friendship Fountain (and architect Taylor Hardwick) in a series of print advertisements to focus worldwide attention on the need to preserve and maintain this work of art.

[9] Hardwick designed the retail sales building for Skinner Dairy products in 1958, which were the forerunners of today's convenience stores.

Skinner's Milk Houses were thoughtfully designed and visually interesting structures that eventually became an iconic presence throughout the greater Jacksonville area.

Under their pitched "butterfly" roofs each identical store was painted orange and white, incorporated a drive-through feature that could be approached from two sides, and made use of aluminum sliding glass doors which were cutting edge at the time.

Some successful adaptations require building additions which only on rare occasions are the structures aesthetics thoughtfully considered.

The program looked back at the work of architects that included Robert Broward, Hardwick, George Fisher and William Morgan in Jacksonville from 1946 to 1973.

He spent time lobbying for the preservation of buildings he designed that are in danger of demolition; many of his creations have been torn down or revised.