There is a particular kind of pleasure in an object that earns its place on a shelf without asking for attention. The Helix Vase was made for that quieter register: a vase you notice slowly, the way you notice a good line in a building or the turn of a staircase. It takes the pared-back language of our Forma Collection and introduces a single, decisive gesture — a spiralling twist that changes with the light and with the angle you approach it.
The thinking behind the form
The Helix started as a question we keep returning to: how much movement can you add to a minimal object before it stops being calm? A spiral is one of the most familiar shapes in the natural world — it turns up in shells, pinecones and unfurling leaves — and it carries a sense of growth without any decoration at all. That felt honest for a Japandi piece: warm and organic, but never fussy.
There is also a quiet nod to the Bauhaus here. That school reshaped modern design around a single idea, where a design's appearance should be dictated by its purpose, and its influence still runs through minimalism and industrial design today. The Helix keeps faith with that discipline. The twist is not applied ornament; it is the structure. Rising 320mm and holding a slim 110mm diameter, the form stays generous at the base and lean through the body, so it reads as sculpture whether or not anything is placed inside it.
How to style it
Because the vase already does the visual work, it rewards restraint. A few ideas we keep coming back to:
- Let it stand empty. On a console, a windowsill or a stack of books, the Helix works as a standalone object. The spiral casts a slow-shifting shadow through the day, which is reason enough to leave it bare.
- Go tall and sparse with dried stems. The Helix is ideal for dried material, and a little asymmetry suits it. Designers often suggest leaning into a single striking stem — one large sculptural piece of dried hogweed, for example, or grasses that echo the vase's vertical rhythm.
- Build a small collection. One of our favourite tricks from stylists is to group vessels of different heights along a mantle or table centre. Pair the Helix with something rounder or lower — a Riva Flower Vase works well — so the twist has something soft to play against.
- Keep the palette quiet. Bleached grasses, pampas, dried eucalyptus or a few bare branches all sit comfortably within a Japandi scheme without competing with the form.
If you'd rather show fresh flowers, drop a slim glass liner inside and fill it with water. The liner protects the print and lets you switch between dried and fresh arrangements as the seasons change.
A word on the material
The Helix is printed in plant-based PLA, and that choice matters to us. PLA is a bioplastic made from renewable, plant-based materials like corn, cassava and sugarcane, rather than from fossil fuels. It is a small but meaningful shift in what a decorative object is made from — and one that lets a sculptural piece sit a little more lightly in your home.
Printing to order compounds the benefit. Each Helix is made only once it is wanted, in roughly three days, which means almost no material waste and no shelf of unsold stock waiting to be discarded. There is something fitting in a spiral — a shape built from careful, additive turns — being made the same way, layer by layer, with nothing spare.
Living with it
Care is simple. Keep the vase out of direct, prolonged heat — a hot car boot or a sun-baked windowsill in high summer are the main things to avoid, as PLA prefers cooler conditions. Dust it with a soft, dry cloth, and if you use fresh flowers, rely on the glass liner rather than pouring water directly inside. Treated gently, it will hold its line for years.
If the Helix isn't quite the shape you're after, it sits within a wider family of forms worth browsing in our vases collection — each one designed to be quietly useful first, and sculptural second.