A1 Rubber and Urban Play create colourful, safe fitness and play areas using recycled materials from disused tyres.
A1 Rubber converts over 7500 tonnes of recycled tyre rubber into various innovative flooring products every year. It holds thousands of tonnes of raw materials and finished products ready for immediate manufacture and dispatch, employing over 60 staff at its Brisbane factory and distribution warehouses in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
One business very happy to talk about its long-lasting association with A1 Rubber is Brisbane landscape architect and design company, Urban Play.
Serious fun
Urban Play is one of Australia’s most reputable playground and fitness companies, having completed over 8000 play and fitness spaces.
From pocket parks to schools, shopping centres, water parks, outdoor gyms and destination playgrounds, every Urban Play space bears the signature stamp of innovative design, exceptional quality and value to last a lifetime. From design, supply and installation, to rubber, shade, street furniture, certification, maintenance and marketing, Urban Play’s expertise extends far beyond playground equipment.
Best of all is urban Play’s sense of fun, right down to the staff pictures on the website all being childhood images of the people concerned – people like the bubbly, friendly and incredibly helpful Marketing Manager, Sarah Barrett.
A very happy customer
“We’ve had a long-standing relationship with A1 Rubber,” recounted Barrett. “It’s nearly a 20-year history of incredible outdoor spaces, changing communities and encouraging Australians to get outside.
“In that time Urban Play has created over 8000 outdoor spaces, most of the time using A1 Rubber products,” she smiled, giving the impression she’d like to personally try as many of those playgrounds as time would allow.
From an ethical standpoint, Urban Play is rapt at A1 Rubber’s products giving the opportunity for upcycling an otherwise environmentally problematical material and putting it to good use, But there’s more to the relationship than that.
“From a design point of view,” explained Barrett, “the beautiful thing about A1 Rubber with all its colour selections is the design is always different at every park, and we’re able to give each park that ‘uniqueness’ it deserves.
“Also, rubber can add another play dimension. It can be somewhere parents can sit, relax, and still engage in play.”
The ease of installation and precertification of the shock pads make Urban Play’s design and construction work a lot easier.
“The pre-certified shock pads are really important doing playgrounds,” said Barrett. “It gives the client ease of mind as well, and we at Urban Play know it’s going to be certified and it’ll be safe for the families that use it.
Part of the team
“We do a lot of rubber mounds, and we’ve done some incredible ones, thanks to the versatility of A1 Rubber’s products,” Barrett continued. “We created one in the shape of a whale’s tail, and we’ve done a ginormous rubber frog the kids can climb all over. A1 Rubber allows us to be really creative. A lot of landscape architects love it because they can craft their own designs and enhance the storytelling of the space.”
And what about the ‘serious’ side of business? Is A1 Rubber a good outfit to do business with?
“Really good logistically!” beamed Barrett. “They’re quite easy to deal with. They also have an online system where we can generate our own quotes which saves time for our play consultants.
“But even just everyone in the A1 office,” she continued. “Obviously, we create many outdoor spaces with various themes from Outer Space to Peanuts, and Crocodiles to stripes. Sometimes we get a park and we think, ‘That’s a beautiful design! How the hell we gonna do it?’ (laughs). Having access to the knowledge and expertise of A1 Rubber staff is great. A lot of them have been there for a while, and leveraging their experience and knowledge means we can push the boundaries of design and construction and can do things we’ve never done before.”
Get in touch
A1 Rubber is proud to be an Australian manufacturer competing on the world stage in recycled-rubber product development, innovation, distribution and service. With the latest in world-class recycled rubber manufacturing technology, A1 Rubber is well positioned to continue to improve the quality, range, competitive pricing and service levels expected from the market leader.
To experience A1 Rubber service and see the range of products available, start by logging on to a1rubber.com.
