Xtraordinary research confirms that Hebel is the top choice for cladding

 

As anyone in the building industry knows, residential developments that seem to spring up overnight are in reality the end result of a lot of behind-the-scenes planning.

One person who is well aware of the months and even years of work that precede such projects is Tara Xanthopoulos of the South Australian building company, Xtraordinary Constructions.

As Sales Manager-Director, Tara looks after the pre-construction aspects of the mainly medium density residential projects undertaken by Xtraordinary while her husband, Tony, manages the construction stages once the work is under way.

One of their current projects comprises 147 townhouses within the new residential community of Hamilton Hill which Starfish Developments is establishing in the eastern Adelaide suburb of Woodforde. Located in the Adelaide Hills just 11 kilometres from the CBD, the development will be home to about 1400 residents when completed.

“We were working in the background for about two years with Starfish Developments and the architect, Enzo Caroscio, on such things as the design, layout, materials, pricing and inclusions, in the lead-up to the work starting on site,” said Tara.

Hebel was “the way to go”

The thorough background research resulted in Xtraordinary choosing to use Hebel cladding for the townhouses, as it has on many other projects.

“We’re using the Hebel PowerPanelXL cladding on the facades in conjunction with the Dulux AcraTex system, and we’re also using it for the boundary walls,” said Tara.

“We looked into Hebel quite extensively before making the final choice. There would have been a cost saving if we’d used an imported product that claims to compete with Hebel. But at the end of the day, we determined that the CSR Hebel product was the way to go. We needed the  quality assurance that theimported alternative couldn’t provide.

“We’ve used Hebel on a lot on other projects so we are aware of its benefits. Obviously,  compared with cladding alternatives such as masonry, Hebel results in much faster construction. We see that as a big advantage, particularly with multi-dwelling construction where there is a need to keep to controlled, and often tight timeframes.

“The thermal and acoustic qualities of Hebel are also pleasing. We’ve never had an issue with our dwellings meeting Energy Efficiency requirements when we use it. And the lightweight nature of Hebel  provides more flexibility in the way that we can design the dwellings, by reducing structural loadings, and giving us extra freedom to add feature walls and articulation as a result of this.”

Teaming up to deliver quality

Established in 2006 by Tony Xanthopoulos, who is a qualified builder and plumber,  Xtraordinary initially focused on custom house construction. Following market demand in 2010, it branched out into medium density residential group dwellings.

As it has in some past projects, Xtraordinary is working with another building company, Aspire Homes, to deliver the Hamilton Hill townhouses.

 

“Knowing that it is a larger project, and not wanting to grow by forced expansion, we decided to bring on a partner builder to increase our resource base and make sure we could deliver a quality product to Starfish Developments,” explained Tara.

She believes other builders could benefit by following their example in this way.

“Instead of growing by forced expansion when faced with a large influx of work, builders could draw on each other’s strengths to deliver projects to the market.  This could be seen as a step in the right direction towards increasing consumer confidence, providing a great product, and  in turn enhancing market stability,” she said.

She also believes residential builders should take care to ensure the products they select are backed by the manufacturer and quality assured, both for the sake of the consumers who will be living in the homes and for the industry itself.

“Hebel was our product of choice for the cladding of the townhouses because we knew CSR was able to provide that guarantee.”

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