Hands-on laboratories play a crucial role in developing practical and collaborative skills such as teamwork. However, these laboratories are often resource-intensive. Virtual and Remote Laboratories (VRLs) have thus emerged as a viable alternative to address these limitations. To foster collaboration in VRLs, we designed a collaborative virtual environment grounded in principles from Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning. The environment supports group work by assigning learners distinct roles and includes a chat system for exchanging ideas. We conducted an experiment using a two-condition protocol: an Automatic condition, in which role changes were system-driven, and a Manual condition, in which learners could request role changes freely. The results show that the distribution of collaborative behaviours where significantly associated with conditions. The Manual condition had notably different role changes compared to the Automatic condition. Students reported high teamwork quality, although the perceived usability of the system was rated as “OK”.