The common Red-tip Photinia will get about 15 x 15. Is your spot big enough for that?

If not, you will have to prune.

The pruning style is up to you -- "box" or "semi-natural" -- but the less the space is than 15 x 15, the more your Photinia WILL start looking like a box in a few years from frequent pruning of any kind.

Joe

The spot is definitely NOT 15 x 15... it's against the house with smaller shrubs in front of it. The landscaper asked if I'm happy with this choice so maybe now will be the time to say "no".... but I don't know what else to put there as anchor foundation plants against the house.

Joe is right of course, they do get huge. I see them around my city.
I have one at the top of my slope about 3 feet tall and maybe a little more than a foot wide. Hasn't grown much since I moved in here 3 years ago. I think it is too dry there but does get some shade so it isn't fried.
I wouldn't have one against a house, I think they need to be out in the open to display their color and be natural.
They are a showey shrub IMO.

You might consider Heavenly bamboo aka nandina. There are all sizes and colors of them.
Or maybe abelia, escallonia or indian hawthorn.

Here in Southern California, you see the Photinia planted all along freeways. The 210 freeway has a good many. So, you know that Caltrans is using plants that spread out.

That is where I first noticed them. I love them and want to put them into a large planter where now is planted Abelias that are 30 years old and looking sad. I plan on the Photinia being a very good privacy hedge plant when it begins to mature.

It would help to know the orientation of the wall in order to recommend substitutes for the Photinia. Photinia fraseri grows too fast and gets too big to be a best choice for a spot where you don't really want to have to prune on a regular basis. I'd suggest you look at slower growing shrubs that have some architectural qualities to the structure, but won't overwhelm the spot. If water quality issues aren't a concern, a Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset', Leucadendron 'Blush' is more manageable size wise, or one of the similar reddish foliage cultivars could look good there. Isopogon formosus is another upright shrubby protea family member with very showy flowers in spring, as well as ornamental foliage. One of the Adenanthos such as A. sericia could also look good here, or some tree type Aloes such as A. marlothii or A. ferox, or A. speciosa.

Alyogyne huegelii and Prostanthera ovalifolia would be other upright shrub choices with seasonal flowering. If you like the idea of foliage color, things like Astelia chathamica of one of the upright growing Phormiums such as P. 'Guardsman' might be good choices.

Not all of these shrubs will do equally well in full sun or more shade, and some have issues with needing good quality irrigation water in southern California gardens.

For my money, Photinia fraseri is just too commonly planted and somewhat boring to use as a feature shrub in a front yard garden, and I would never recommend it for such a setting, aside from the pruning issues. Some of the dwarfer growing Pittosporum tenuifolium cultivars such as as 'Marjorie Channon' or 'Silver Sheen' are quite popular for slower growing foundation shrubs here in coastal northern California, and have soft billowy foliage characteristics that lend themselves easily to being kept sheared but with a softer look.

Bahia, the wall faces south-west. It gets some morning sun until the sun passes over the house. Soil is clay.

You have been offered excellent suggestions. I have grown a Photinia in exactly the location you are considering. A foundation planting facing to the west. With the wall of the house to the east the plant leans out to the light, growing in a shape difficult to confine. Photinia grows very fast in these conditions. I would never plant one again that is not completely out in the open. Al

If you can grow sensitive plants such as Rhododendrons and Azaleas in your garden without water quality issues, then the Protea family recommendations such as Leucadendron and Isopogon or Adenanthos will probably work okay for you, although all will benefit from amending the soil with 1/4 perlite, 1/4 scoria, 1/4 coconut coir with the last 1/4 of existing clay soil, and planting on a slight mound for best drainage. For protea family relatives, I generally amend the planting hole 3 times as wide as the container and the same depth when planting in clay soils, unless on a slope when creating better drainage isn't usually so critical.

It sounds like the light/exposure conditions are generally good for sun loving things, without being all day blasting sun. If you don't mind giving it the extra watering it might prefer, a Tibouchina urvilleana could also be dramatic to either side of this window.