How Vas cleans air.
The Vas planter is a biofilter that actively pulls indoor air through the plant's soil and root zone, which acts as a living filtration medium — dirt is not inert. Treated air is returned to the room by low-energy fans, forming a continuous regenerative loop. Developed in collaboration with plant-biofiltration scientist William Pepi, PhD.
- DrawRoom air is gently pulled into the planter through the top of the vessel by a low-power fan.
- FilterAir moves through the porous soil matrix and activated carbon substrate, where particles and VOCs are physically trapped and adsorbed.
- MetaboliseRoot-associated microbes break the captured compounds down into harmless byproducts; the plant supplies moisture, oxygen, and nutrients that keep the colony active.
- ReturnFiltered air leaves through the louvres at the base — a continuous, regenerative loop that mimics the purification processes of a natural ecosystem.
Furniture-grade concrete and hardwood.
Vas is designed as a sculptural object as much as an appliance — built from durable architectural materials chosen to sit quietly in a modern interior. The unit ships fully established: a healthy snake plant, a colonised root zone, and the sorbent media already in place. Add 2 L of water, turn the fan knob, and the loop begins.
Why plants?
Plants are the source of all breathable air on Earth.
Before the evolution of plants, the atmosphere held no free oxygen — only toxic gases. Today, indoor environments quietly recapitulate that earlier state: we spend roughly 90% of our time indoors, where paints, furniture finishes, plastics and cleaning residues continuously off-gas. The W.H.O. ranks air quality as the leading environmental risk to human health.
Plants and their soil microbes naturally degrade those same pollutants. Vas amplifies the process by actively pulling room air through the plant's root ecosystem, so a houseplant scaled for a tabletop covers the air volume of a small room.
A houseplant
with a job.
Waitlist
Vas is in limited production. Reserve a unit and BIOM will be in touch when the next batch ships. Each unit is hand-finished in Brooklyn; allocation follows the order of the waitlist.