SAWA wooden building Rotterdam, Lloydquarter timber housing tower photos, New Netherlands city homes photos
Modern Dutch timber tower architectural renovation project in Holland design by Mei architects and planners.
20 November 2025
Her Majesty Queen Máxima inaugurates SAWA
Royal opening of SAWA
Rotterdam, 19 November 2025 – Her Majesty Queen Máxima officially opened SAWA yesterday, the new circular timber residential building on Rotterdam’s Lloydpier. The moment marks a special milestone for developers NICE Developers and ERA Contour, for all partners and construction team involved, and above all for the residents who moved in this summer.
Samen leven – Samen vieren! Koningin Máxima onthult samen met de bewoners een reusachtige picknicktafel die voortaan op het gemeenschappelijke leefdek staan.
SAWA Rotterdam Royal Opening News
Photos © Ossip
A crowning moment
During the opening programme, SAWA was introduced to Queen Máxima. Residents, designers, ecologists and developers spoke about how the building came to be and the impact it has on daily life. One of the residents took the stage with her young daughter to share their personal story — a moment that resonated strongly with everyone present.
photo © J Lousberg
The official opening followed. Queen Máxima unveiled a giant picnic table together with the residents — a new centrepiece on the communal deck that will encourage social interaction. She then was given a guided tour of the building, speaking with residents and project partners about the unique process behind SAWA.
At Evelien’s home, Jeroen Heijdra, Mark Compeer and Arjan Nolles talk to Her Majesty about opportunities for making the construction sector more sustainable.
photo © J Lousberg
SAWA is regarded as an exemplary model of how a residential building can actively contribute to a healthier, greener and more socially connected city. Beyond being an innovative timber structure, the building creates space for urban nature and is designed to foster interaction between residents.
Queen Máxima and host Robert Winkel, surrounded by residents:
photo © J Lousberg
Living with nature – in the heart of the city
SAWA is designed as a living ecosystem. With more than 600 linear metres of integrated planters, thousands of native plants and 140 nesting boxes for birds and bats, the building makes a visible contribution to urban biodiversity. The elevated communal deck forms the green heart of the building: an outdoor space where residents garden, meet one another, or simply enjoy views of the city.
Nearly half of the homes are designated as mid-rent, making circular timber construction accessible to a broad group of Rotterdammers — a deliberate choice in the design and development process.
Built for connection and community
In addition to its green outdoor spaces, SAWA offers a range of shared facilities, including a hobby room, tool-sharing room, shared mobility and communal terraces. Every aspect of the building is designed to make it easy for residents to connect and share everyday activities. Resident Rita experiences this daily:
“The deck with all the planters truly makes the difference. You can see how greenery makes people happy — and here, you share that with each other. The hobby room, doing things together, meeting someone by chance on the deck… SAWA is designed so that you naturally connect. And that huge picnic table we received yesterday completes it perfectly.”
– Rita, resident of SAWA
Collaboration as the foundation
During the opening, special attention was given to the intensive collaboration between the developers, contractor, architect and a broad group of partners from across the city. From concept and design to engineering, ecology, construction and resident participation, SAWA demonstrates what becomes possible when craftsmanship and shared ambition come together.
NICE Developers
NICE Developers creates circular timber buildings that strengthen biodiversity and add affordable homes. Their projects combine biobased construction with social inclusivity and financially feasible, scalable systems.
www.nicedevelopers.nl
ERA Contour
ERA Contour develops, builds and renovates strong, future-proof neighbourhoods with happy residents, with a focus on innovation, sustainability and collaborative partnerships.
www.eracontour.nl
SAWA design by Mei architects and planners
SAWA, The healthiest building in the Netherlands
Commissioned by Nice Developers & Era Contour, Mei architects and planners designed ‘SAWA’: a unique and circular wooden residential building of 50 meters high, adding value to the neighbourhood and the city in the broadest sense. These “shared values” relate to CO2 reduction, the enhancement of biodiversity and the creation of a circular building with affordable housing for an inclusive community.
SAWA’s exceptional feature is that the building is constructed entirely of CLT (cross laminated timber), with the use of concrete kept to a minimum. This makes SAWA the first full-height timber residential building in Rotterdam. The building is distinctive in its appearance due to the generous green terraces, which refer to the history of the location and at the same time reinforce the biodiversity in the neighbourhood.
The conviction and drive of both the client and the architect to not only design but also realise a revolutionary concept like SAWA is nourished by the ambition to contribute to reducing CO2 emissions and the achievement of (inter)national climate goals on the one hand, and to create affordable housing at the same time. SAWA, also known as the ‘healthiest building in the Netherlands’, is thus an exemplary project for new generations, an important step in the sustainability objectives and tangible proof that things can be done differently.
Lloydkwartier
The Lloydkwartier has a rich maritime past that goes back to around 1900. The Lloyd pier owes its name to the shipping company Rotterdamsche Lloyd, which built a terminal on the pier from where its passenger ships departed to the east of the world. The SAWA building owes its name to the stepped shape with generous green terraces, as a reference to Eastern rice fields and to the history of the site.
The Lloydpier is one of the most water-rich neighbourhoods in the centre of Rotterdam. The district is characterised by a mix of architecture: from transformed monumental warehouses and old harbour monuments to unique new buildings. Thanks to the multitude of cultural and culinary hotspots, the proximity of the inner city and the parc, the tough character of the area and the view of the water, the Lloydkwartier has grown over the past 15 years from an industrial harbour area to a popular residential area.
Shared values
SAWA is being developed in the heart of the Lloydkwartier district. Because of this location, by creating places in the design for encounters and by connecting to existing local initiatives, SAWA will be of added value for the entire district. The plinth of the building will contain various facilities, and the deck will act as a green connector between the building and surrounding green spaces (such as the neighbourhood garden), adding value for both residents and neighbours.
The houses are accessed by means of a gallery. Despite the fact that the gallery is still considered unpopular by estate agents, for example, Mei is a great supporter of it and consciously opted for this form of access in order to stimulate contact between the residents. The success of this design choice has already proven itself in many other projects by Mei, such as Fenix I. The residential concept in SAWA is distinctive because of the various shared functions – such as shared mobility, collective repair room and a vegetable garden – which actively shapes a community.
CO2 reduction
In the context of the Paris and Glasgow Climate Accords, the European Green Deal, the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Rotterdam City Council’s targets for reducing CO2 emissions, the client and architect share the ambition to construct the building, including the main supporting structure, almost entirely in CLT. There are several advantages to building in CLT. First of all, wood stores CO2, thus reducing emissions. In addition, it is an excellent building material because, compared to concrete, it is lighter, faster, safer, more durable and also reusable. And above all, it increases living comfort.
The wood is left in sight as much as possible in the houses and on the galleries and balconies. Only where the perception of the wood is minimal (storage, toilet, bathroom) will the wood be finished with plaster.
SAWA’s innovation lies in bringing together all the elements that help to build a 50-metre-high residential building whose main load-bearing structure consists of more than 90% wood. Together with a team of international experts, existing solutions are combined and innovations are devised to optimize the use of wood; minimize the amount of concrete and steel in the design; and solve consequent fire, noise and vibration problems.
Circular
SAWA is built using a modular construction system of wood, using dry, separable solutions (no casting). SAWA sets new standards in circular construction with a floor constructed from CLT topped with dry ballast instead of concrete. This makes the components in the floor fully circular and the materials can be detached and reused in the future (urban mining).
SAWA’s design is based on the Open Building principle: the main supporting structure consists of floors, beams and columns. This creates a high degree of flexibility and freedom of layout for both first-time buyers and future generations and contributes to the building’s future-proofing.
The structure is made of Cross-laminated Timber (CLT). The trees used for SAWA come from sustainable production forests. For every tree that is cut down, four trees of different species are planted back. The other materials used are as far as possible bio-based and have a material passport.
Biodiversity
The migration to the city continues. Dutch cities continue to grow and the quality of life is coming under increasing pressure. The consequences of this urbanisation on the human ecosystem – such as flooding, heat stress and increased CO2 emissions – are becoming increasingly visible. At the same time, the habitat of birds, bees, butterflies and other insects is being severely curtailed by the increasingly crowded construction of cities and the petrification of the living environment. SAWA’s design marks a turning point in this development and contributes to a healthy living environment.
In cooperation with city ecologists and biologists, SAWA was designed to be nature-inclusive. For example, there are fixed flower and planters on the terraces and balconies. The planting is site-specific (depending on the orientation to the sun and the height in the building) and chosen in such a way that the plants provide food for the animal species. Nesting boxes will be placed on and around the building to provide a safe shelter for birds and insects. In this way, SAWA connects to the existing ecological structures in the city and increases the biodiversity of the neighbourhood.
Inclusive
With a mix of owner-occupied and rental properties ranging from 50 to 165 m2, the future residents of SAWA will form a diverse community and a reflection of the city. Fifty apartments, about half of the number of dwellings in SAWA, are intended for mid-rent. This makes it accessible to all income groups to live in SAWA, including the group of middle-income people for whom it is increasingly difficult to find an affordable home in the city.
Energy neutral
SAWA is a low-installation building, with a healthy indoor climate and possibilities for future adaptations. The houses are equipped with cross ventilation and temperature plus CO2 controlled ventilation valves in the facade.
SAWA is not only the healthiest building in the Netherlands, it is also energy-neutral. By using PV panels on the roofs in combination with “remote solar”, sustainable district heating and other sustainable measures, SAWA has achieved an EPC of 0. This makes SAWA as a building energy-neutral, both after realisation and during the construction process.
After completion, SAWA itself generates the energy it needs for the communal facilities. The solar panels on the roof power the lift, the lighting in the galleries and the electric cars and bicycles.
View render video of SAWA on vimeo
SAWA Rotterdam Timber Housing Tower – Buildng Information
Location: Lloydpier, Rotterdam
Number of homes: 109 (approx. 50% middle-rent)
Height: 50 metres
Structure: Fully timber (CLT and glulam)
CO₂ storage: approx. 2,500 tonnes
Biodiversity: 600 m¹ planters, 3,000 plants, 140 nesting boxes
Developers: NICE Developers & ERA Contour
Architect: Mei architects and planners
Investor: Focus on Impact
Contractor: ERA Contour
Timber engineering: Pirmin Jung & DERIX Group
Timber supplier: DERIX Group
Structural engineer: Pieters Bouwtechniek
Biodiversity advisors: Bureau Stadsnatuur & De Natuurlijke Stad
Ecology: Copijn
Building physics: DGMR
Fire safety: Adviesbureau Hamerlinck
Timber, innovation & sustainability: Aldus Bouwinnovatie
Cost consultancy: Maatwerk in Bouwadvies
Completion: 2025
SAWA Lloydquarter Rotterdam images / information received 201125 from Mei architects and planners
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Previously on e-architect:
15 September 2022
SAWA wooden building, Lloydquarter
Design: Mei architects and planners
image © WAX
Mei architects and planners
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
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