The many lives of Alex Quirke
Some people wear one hat and wear it well. Alex Quirke wears several and each one seems to make him sharper in the others. By day, he’s Business Development Manager at Avia Homes, a builder that’s rocketing through Queensland’s housing market with growth rates rarely seen in the sector. By night, he’s a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu heavyweight gold medallist, an aspiring stand-up comic, and a single father devoted to his three-year-old daughter.
To the outside eye it looks impossible. To Quirke, it’s simply about balance, discipline and surrounding yourself with people who push harder than most.
From excavators to new homes
Quirke didn’t grow up in display villages. His first seven years were spent in civil construction, boots on the ground, shifting dirt and learning the rhythm of site work. That experience gave him the technical grounding that would later prove invaluable when he jumped the fence into sales first in cars, then in heavy machinery.
“I had a civil background, then sales. Eventually the two met,” he says. “I was selling excavators and dozers, and realised I loved the deal-making side. But I always had an eye on real estate and building.”
When he came back from a stint in Canada, Quirke joined a building company that was later lost to the COVID crunch. But the taste was enough: “I loved the industry. It’s one of those industries you can dive into forever land development, growth corridors, the housing side. And in Queensland, the growth was insane.”
Enter Tom Egan, founder of Avia Homes. Egan was less than a year into building the brand when he tapped Quirke to come aboard. Quirke became the fourth employee. Today, the company has nearly 70 staff and over 420 sales to its name.
Avia: trust, speed and no smoke and mirrors
Quirke describes Avia as “no smoke and mirrors”. It’s not a retail builder chasing walk-ins. Instead, Avia partners with first-home buyer groups and wealth-creation firms, delivering a turnkey product that looks the same whether you’re an owner-occupier or an investor.
The strategy is deliberate: display homes reflect reality. Clients aren’t walking through chandeliers and spiral staircases only to find they can’t afford them. Instead, they see stone benchtops, wide doors, tiled floors, epoxy garages and 900mm appliances all standard.
The model leans heavily on technology and systems. Clients track progress through a live app. Site delays come with a screenshot of yesterday’s weather. Contracts and sited designs can be turned around the same day. And internally, roles are focused: Quirke isn’t juggling contracts at midnight; specialists handle each part of the process.
It’s why Avia has built a reputation for five-star reviews in a sector where mediocrity is too often the norm. “Transparency isn’t just a word here,” Quirke says. “It’s how we run.”
The man behind the job
Outside of work, Quirke is no less relentless. He’s a gold medallist at the Australian Jiu-Jitsu Championships a pursuit he credits with teaching him patience, resilience and mental clarity. “On the mats you can’t think about anything else,” he says. “It’s the same with riding motorbikes. It clears the head.”
Stand-up comedy, on the other hand, keeps his communication sharp. “If you can die on stage for five minutes, a sales call isn’t scary anymore,” he laughs.
Balancing those pursuits with single fatherhood isn’t easy, but Quirke insists it’s about priorities. When he has his daughter, he’s “100% locked in on dad mode”. When he doesn’t, he’s free to train, compete or chase passions. Crucially, Avia’s culture allows for it: “The management team are all parents. They get it. If I need to do drop-offs or pick-ups, it’s supported.”
Inside Avia’s culture
Culture is where Quirke lights up. Avia, he notes, was named by founder Tom Egan after his two daughters Ava and Mia. That personal stake sets the tone. “When you name a company after your kids, you’re building it to mean something,” Quirke says.
The team around Egan is stacked with high-performers: the DeCarlo family, long-time developers and boxing promoters; Aaron Hall, a former AFL professional; and specialists who thrive in their swim lanes. “Hover around Tom for a week and you see why it scales,” Quirke says. “The drive is relentless, but the support is real.”
That culture extends to clients. Transparency, inclusions that exceed expectations, and a focus on speed are all part of the package. But so too is empathy for first-home buyers who are navigating the biggest purchase of their lives. Avia employs dedicated colour consultants and client service managers to hold hands through the process. “We don’t want clients overwhelmed. We want them supported,” Quirke says.
Reviews that mean something
In an industry bruised by COVID, insolvencies and mistrust, Avia’s review record stands out. More than 200 Google reviews at near five-star average isn’t an accident. “COVID put a spotlight on who delivered,” Quirke says. “We knew from day one that we had to win trust back. That means delivering exactly what we say.”
The result is more than just happy clients. Staff themselves build with Avia. “I’m building with Avia. Other BDMs, contract admins, build managers they’re all building too. That says more than any marketing line ever could.”
Life lessons and values
At the core of Quirke’s approach is a simple mantra: treat people the way you want to be treated. It’s not a gimmick. It’s how he was raised and how he does business. “Sometimes I shoot myself in the foot by being too blunt, but I can’t sell what I don’t believe in,” he says. “My word means something. If the product doesn’t work for a client, that’s fine, I won’t push it. But if I believe in it, I’ll back it fully.”
It’s that honesty that resonates across Avia and with the partners who bring clients through the door. In a market often cluttered with promises, Quirke’s directness cuts through.
What makes a good builder?
The Good Builder always finishes on one question. For Quirke, the answer is obvious. “It’s transparency. It’s having a great product and service, but being open and honest in everything you do. That’s what Avia’s built on, and that’s what I live by.”
For a man who can win medals on the mats, make strangers laugh on stage, raise a daughter with intent, and help drive one of Queensland’s fastest-growing builders transparency feels less like a buzzword, and more like the only way forward.
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