Winner in the Experimental Future Projects category in the World Architecture Festival 2021, SAWA – designed by Mei Architects and Planners – is Rotterdam’s first 50-meter-high residential building and it was developed with the goal to prove that humans can live and build in a sustainable way.

The project, in fact, focuses on circular timber construction, biodiversity and communities based on the concept of health, with planting spaces and a stepped exterior façade that intentionally reduced the approved volume of the zoning plan model. The building will house circa 100 apartments, with a large communal deck on the first floor and many terraces.

SAWA is built 90% out of wood, which reprehsents an example for future apartment building projects, looking to use non-traditional materials and construction methods. The used cross-laminated timber stores CO2 and reduces emissions, creating at the same time a cozy living space. The construction time is  shorter compared to concrete construction and the column structure will allow to rearrange the apartments in the future, thing which helps the building to suit multiple uses.