Coastal chic influences camper design

While mainstream Australian RV manufacturers are starting to get more adventurous with their designs and finishes, you generally have to look further afield to boutique overseas products for something truly 'out of the box' to take away on holidays.

But now there's a local RV start-up seeking to tap into the rising tide of 'vanlife' individualists and Outback-loving millennial influencers, with the establishment of Little Cove Campers on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Channeling the latest 'coastal chic' decor theme of a Noosa holiday shack or Airbnb week-ender, Little Cove Campers' founder Josh Redford recently unveiled his first eye-catching campervan conversion based on a 2006 Mercedes-Benz Vito.

The trendy interior fit-incorporates creamy lounge seating that converts to a double bed, while the rear tailgate lifts up to reveal an equally stylish kitchenette cum 'powder room'.

Making it all stand out is the use of striking materials like American Oak benchtops, exposed copper piping and bare timber taps.

"I'm trying to push a lot of different finishes and textures in the 'van, as opposed to traditional glossy white finishes," Redford explains.

The flow-through interior aesthetic helps make the most of the surrounding views, while the owner couple kicks back on the day/night bed.

"There's a cupboard next to the kitchen with a door that swings out to create a powder room, or somewhere you can get ready to go out from your campsite or wherever," he explains.

It's not all about the look and feel though, with separate slide-outs for a portable gas cooker, fridge and storage pantry at the rear, and a 55 litre fresh water tank with 12V pump that has an external connection so you can hook up a portable hot water unit and have a shower before heading to the pub.

While the first conversion used a Mercedes van, Little Cove Campers plans to offer similar fit-outs for a variety of customer vehicles.

"I've had a lot of enquiries already to do it with a Mercedes Sprinter and even a Toyota Coaster bus," he says.

There's also a 'freestanding' lightweight, hard-body camper trailer version in the works, with similar flow-through design including the multi-purpose rear-end set-up.

The 3m long by 2m wide box-style camper will be rough-road capable and available with options like a battery system, plumbed hot water and other features normally fitted to similar-size campers.

"It will be just like the campervan but without the driver and passenger seats; something that you can tow and put a roof-top tent on, in the vanlife style," he says.

Rather than the Alucabond-style gloss panels currently used by many Australian caravan manufacturers, he plans to use the latest architectural profile aluminum cladding for the exterior walls, available in different textures and colours including a weatherboard look.

The interior walls will get a flexible, plasticized industrial coating, designed to deliver a concrete render-like textured finish without shrinking or cracking.

"I'm trying to tap into the latest lightweight materials available from the housing industry," he explains.

"You see a lot of gloss white vans cruising down the road so I want to offer something different."

He also wants to entice the tech-savvy 'Apple Carplay' crowd by offering the latest voice activation to control electrical items like lighting and fridge temperature, run through a bespoke smart phone app.

Pricing for a typical campervan fit-out on a customer supplied van is expected to be around $15-$20,000, while pricing for the box camper should start from around $40,000.

The 32-year old plumber by trade is currently receiving financial support and training through the government-funded NEIS program to help bring his business dream of "crafting architecturally inspired small spaces on wheels" to life.

"The RV market is flooded with (the more traditional designs), so rather than try and compete with that I thought I'd do something different," he says.

"I believe there is a gap in the camper and caravan market for boutique styling with new finishes and textures throughout, interior and exterior included."

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