• Australian company CABN has a range of off-grid tiny houses available for bookings in South Australia and Victoria.
• Founder and CEO Michael Lamprell told Business Insider Australia that he wants guests to be able to switch off all their technology and relax among nature.
• Those who stay at the CABN-X option will also be given a native tree to plant.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

CABN is a South Australian-based company that provides off-grid tiny houses for short stays.

The company’s CABNs (read: tiny houses) are in secluded areas among natural surroundings in South Australia and Victoria. They include a king or queen sized bed, kitchen, bathroom with a shower and an eco-friendly toilet, with prices starting from $209. While the houses have enough power to charge a battery, they are primarily designed let you take a break and unwind from your busy schedule.

Founder and CEO Michael Lamprell told Business Insider Australia the company wants guests to relax, rediscover and reconnect when they book a stay in a CABN.

“I want them to first of all slow down, switch off all of their technology and just relax into the environment,” he said.

The company was founded in 2017, with the tiny houses designed and built from scratch. The idea

“Our guiding principle for everything that we do is that a space doesn’t need to be big to be beautiful,” Lamprell said. “So everything that we do is to try and balance the functionality of a small space with a beautiful aesthetic.”

Lamprell said he has always been heavily influenced by Scandinavian and Japanese architecture, which also inspired the CABN designs.

“They’re completely self contained,” he said. “We have spent painstaking weeks and months developing the best way to capture sunlight and water and dealing with waste as well.”

But one thing Lamprell prides most with CABNs is their abundance of of windows. “We really wanted to try and bring the outside in through that mechanism of big glass.”

Regenerative tourism

If there’s a phrase Lamprell would use to describe the objective of the CABNs, its to champion ‘regenerative tourism’. For Lamprelle, its based on the idea that you should leave where you’ve been as you found it, or better.

“[Regenerative tourism] does mean recharge your batteries, recharge your relationships, regenerate yourself and those around you,” Lamprell explained. “But coupled with that is to regenerate the environment and the community.”

With that in mind, the company has CABN-X tiny houses in MacLaren Vale, South Australia where every guest who stays in one is given a native tree to plant on the property. “We’re trying to develop a mapping system where those people can GPS and pinpoint the trees that they plant,” Lamprell added. “Then they can go back and visit them, and see how they are growing and how they’re interacting with the environment.”

Another project CABN has in the work is working with the Kabi Kabi Traditional Owners in Queensland to build 38 sustainable eco-friendly CABNs in Cooloola. This accommodation will be part of an ecotourism trail designed to have little impact on the environment.

“It’s a long term project of ours and something we’re passionate about,” Lamprell said. “We have a mandate with our company that we want to bring the local communities, and in particular the indigenous communities and the Traditional Owners, into our projects. Not only in the build phase but also in land management and in ongoing operational aspects.”

In addition to this, CABN has a conservation fund where it donates a percentage of its finances to support local communities. Guests also get the opportunity to donate to this fund as well.

Reaping the benefits of South Australia’s travel voucher scheme

In 2020, South Australia joined a number of other Australian states in rolling out a travel voucher incentive to encourage residents to take local trips. Under its ‘Great State voucher’ scheme, residents could get a $100 voucher for accommodation in the CBD and a $50 voucher for stays regional and suburban areas. CABN was among the participating accommodation providers involved in the scheme.

Lamprell explained that the company had a roughly 150% increase in the level of enquiries and bookings when the vouchers were released.

“We’ve [seen] a huge increase in interest in bookings,” he said. “All of our cabins are completely booked out for the next three or four months.”

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