Virgon brings a commercially astute approach to every build, and their Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) process shaved a substantial $500,000 off the project’s initial budget, says Project Manager Christian Virgona. Tweaks were made to the materiality and external finishings, which improved the overall buildability without compromising Parallel Workshop’s impressive design vision. 

Despite this, it remained a challenging build, and balancing the design aesthetic with Class 2 compliance required technical know-how and lateral thinking.

‘We had a common basement underneath the townhouses, so everything becomes a lot more sensitive for fire rating,’ Christian explains. ‘So all the curved walls had to be built out of Hebel [rather than EPS] because they had to be fire-rated.'

This necessitated an extraordinarily detailed construction process: ‘The team carrying out the rendering were cutting the Hebel on chamfers to achieve the curve radius, then smoothing out curves with high-build render. Every radius was templated by our in-house carpentry team to make sure that when they trowelled the render across the wall face, it would achieve a seamless finish.’

The architectural centrepiece of the project is a fantastically sculptural, helical staircase that sweeps up through the centre of the largest of the three homes. Flawlessly articulated in crisp white plasterwork, Christian says constructing it required absolute mathematical precision from the ground up.

‘It starts in the basement, extends through a suspended slab and then finishes on the top level where it's met by a steel sub-structure,’ he says. ‘We worked closely with the architect to ensure the stair radius was carefully designed to achieve the stringer twist. Curved formwork and concreting were incorporated into the ground floor suspended slab to ensure the stairs finished at the correct location.’

Despite works being stalled by rain for 25 days, the townhouses were completed within 17 months. Christian says there were many moments of immense pride during the build, as challenges were successively overcome.

Winning the 2025 HIA Australian Townhouse/Villa Development stands as a testament to the dedication of the Virgon staff as well as the collaborative partnership between them, the client and the architect.

‘To go up against the best builders in Australia, it's a case study in the quality of the work we're putting out,’ Christian says. ‘Winning places you in rarified air, because it's an endorsement from a trusted industry body.’

Materials:

• Exterior facade: CSR Hebel
• Benchtops: Quantum Zero in Ash Grey from WK Stone; New Grey Tundra natural stone from Signorino
• Carpet: Cashmere Touch from Signature Floors
• Floor tiles: River Slate in Pearl Matt from Pavé Tile Co
• Mosaic: Entiva Zen Kit Kats from Volaré Tiles & Flooring
• Cabinetry: Polytec
• Skirtings and architraves: Custom P50 skirting

First published on 9th September 2025.