A1 Rubber and Barefoot Projects in Victoria were already enjoying an excellent working realtionship, but A1 Rubber’s new Victorian warehouse has made things even better for the Braeside-based company.
Barefoot Projects, a design consultancy based in Braeside, Victoria, is a leader in landscape construction and prides itself on excellent service and quality work.
Australian owned and operated since 2008, the company specialises in works ranging from childcare facilities, government and private educational institutions, sporting facilities and through to aged-care and sporting arenas.
From concept to completion, the Barefoot Projects team designs, estimates and builds, creating visionary landscapes and enduring spaces.
We couldn’t help but notice a tendency to a playful and colourful look to a lot of Barefoot Projects’ work, and there seems to be a distinct joy in creating play areas.
“I like to tell people we make happy places for little people,” grinned Louise Bartlett, the company’s irrepressibly cheerful Project Coordinator. “The majority of what we do within the umbrella of landscape construction is child-care areas.”
It seemed to us Louise and the rest of Barefoot Projects were very happy about that situation.
Great service
Naturally, wherever children are involved, soft-landing surfaces are vital. Bright colours and being able to provide imaginative and mentally stimulating structures is important as well, and that’s where Barefoot Projects found an excellent supplier and supporter in A1 Rubber, especially now there’s a Victorian headquarters.
“We’ve been dealing with A1 Rubber for probably 12 to 18 months all up,” Louise recounted, “and more recently we’ve been dealing with Toni De Clase at the new Melbourne depot.
“The experience has been really good.
“We were outsourcing all our rubber needs to suppliers who were finding their own material, but over the last 18 months or so we’ve started working with a subcontractor who deals primarily with us. As a result, it’s so much easier for us to buy the rubber materials, and we’ve been very happy with the service we’ve received from A1 Rubber.”
Local
With A1 Rubber based in Queensland, the Victorian warehouse has been a real step up in convenience for Barefoot Projects.
“We used to order everything through portal-based ordering systems and it was sent down from Queensland,” explained Louise. “There were obviously transit times and we had to allow for that. For all intents and purposes, the rubber components of our jobs were almost considered a long-leadtime item.
“But since the Melbourne office and warehouse opened it’s been an absolute blessing. We can make a call, or we can shoot through an email in the morning, and we can pick up in the afternoon.
“Lately we’ve had quite a few projects on the other side of town, and it’s been a really, really, good run for us. A lot of the guys are only 15 or 20 minutes away from the A1 Rubber depot in Brooklyn, and it’s been so easy to go and get product.
“And there’s now the ability to grab product on the fly,” said Louise, clearly delighted with the efficiency and convenience.
Great product
Louise is fairly straightforward about which aspect of dealing with A1 Rubber she enjoys most.
“The rubber!” she beamed.
“We mostly use the rubber granules – EPDM – but we use the whole range of A1 Rubber materials, including the rubber mulch, the Carnival range, the Opal range, as well as the CSBR range.
“We’ve recently started using A1 Rubber’s binder as well. We’ve tested it against other industry binders we’ve used, and because A1 warrants its product, it also double-warrants the product if we use A1 Rubber binder. We’re using the Procure, and it’s working out really well.”
When we suggested Barefoot Projects and A1 Rubber was a good fit, Louise quickly replied, “It is! It absolutely is. We’ve got a really cohesive relationship, I think.”
We’re not sure if that was a very subtle pun on being cohesive with binder materials, but it’s clear Barefoot Projects will be sticking with A1 Rubber.
Find out more about A1 Rubber and its products at a1rubber.com, and Barefoot Projects at barefootprojects.com.au.
