Impressions Dakabin

 

How did the relationship with Starex come about?

Throughout our time in the sector, We have always admired Starex and have eagerly followed their projects, dreaming of the day we would be able to showcase these beautiful quality pieces in our brand-new builds in Australia. We first reached out to Matt & Melissa over Zoom “ Coffee” Chats and instantly connected daydreaming about the possibilities for children and it was very clear that our core values aligned with wanting to ensure we kept the integrity of both brands alive and gave it justice, so for me there was never a second guess about how we are going to work alongside the team with the small barrier being the Tasman Ocean. 

How did you find the process ordering with Starex? Did you find the Starex design journey beneficial to help bring your ambitious vision to life?

It was all very exciting on the zoom chats as we couldn’t meet face to face being in different countries but the attention to detail when the concepts would come back were so on point. I think when you share the same vision for high quality Education it just makes sense to ensure that the children are getting the very best pieces of materials to work with. We made it very clear from the beginning that some of our ideas might be left field and to just trust the vision from both parties while we co-created masterpieces. The fact the Starex team had their main designer on the calls and was able to give real life data to us and share in the triumphs and challenges we faced it meant the journey was more special. The 3D/4D concepts allowed us to visualize the space and concepts and allowed us to ensure it gave enough flexibility for the children to re-create and continually adapt either environment. Duality and versatility were extremely important to us throughout the design stage, and the Starex team absolutely understood this and made our visions come to life. When the first container officially landed it was almost a surreal moment for us! Equally nervous that the measurements we provided for some of these feature pieces would fit in the doorways etc. My eyes were closed for the first install, and I could have almost cried to see that it fit down to the millimetre.

I am very proud of the massive efforts it took for our team at Impressions and Starex to continue to champion each other to the finish line. Starex has always accommodated our needs and it truly lets us elevate our vision for the Australian Sector of High-Quality Care and outcomes for children is Paramount.  It is our duty to ensure that children have the best access for them to thrive. We may be two separate businesses, but together we are one team

What are the highlights of working with Starex for your furniture in Impressions’ Early Learning Environments?

The highlights of working with Starex is their family approach. I can honestly say with hand on my heart the team at starex truly believes in advocating for the best for children.

Finally meeting Matt & Melissa was also such a highlight as they hadn’t even been in the country for long before they met us at one of the services we had been talking about for years and was with us when we opened the container to see the custom pieces.

Once we had styled the environments to suit our Impressions Brand and ethos, we invited Matt back and on the tour Matt & our Centre Manager got lost in discovery when they were looking through the lends of the child. I think that’s inspiring for us to see that not only is the team building quality furniture pieces for the sector. They are passionate about seeing what the children would see and do in this space! It’s such a powerful space to sit in and honestly it just excites me for what we can continue to create together on the next project!

Priscilla Farry, Business Manager, Impressions Early Education