The Dutch Association of Architectural Firms (BNA) has named SAWA the Best Building of 2026. This is the most prestigious architectural award in the Netherlands. During the award ceremony on June 5th, the jury unanimously selected the circular timber residential building in Rotterdam.
SAWA is a development by NICE Developers and ERA Contour, designed by Mei architects and planners. The project was realized thanks to an intensive collaboration between the municipality of Rotterdam and a wide consortium of partners, including Focus on Impact, Derix Group, Pieters, DGMR, and Bureau Stadsnatuur.
The residential tower has a GFA of 12,000 m², offers space for 50 mid-rent homes, 20 private rental homes, 39 owner-occupied homes, and various hospitality and community facilities on the ground floor.
“A turning point in the city”
With this award, the jury not only recognizes the architectural quality of SAWA, but also the innovative way in which sustainability, social inclusivity, biodiversity, and entrepreneurship come together in one project. Thanks to the simple and thoughtful construction method, the jury describes SAWA as a ‘no-nonsense building.’
According to the jury, the project represents an important experiment in the field of timber construction and entrepreneurship, with a significant exemplary role for future developments. Jury chair Winnie Sorgdrager therefore calls SAWA ‘a turning point in the city.’
It is a self-aware building that occupies space, but is so carefully integrated that it also gives something back to its surroundings.
Community as a starting point
The design of SAWA focused on creating a strong community. Residents are encouraged to take ownership of their living environment, among other things through the various meeting places established in and around the building and by providing an information point from the start of the project where local residents were informed and could give feedback on the plans. The jury explicitly appreciates this approach: “the project contributes to a livable neighborhood and a sense of community, and can inspire designers and clients to adopt an enterprising and investigative attitude.”
We are building the city with love for the neighborhood and nature. We are pioneering in a sustainable, nature-friendly, and social way. SAWA has been developed from and for the neighborhood. The building gives something back to the city.
Demonstrable evidence for a new approach
SAWA is more than a residential building. It is a sustainable project that will continue to develop in the coming years from a wooden icon to an integrated green ecosystem. The building consists of 75 percent wood and recycled materials. In addition, it features 600 linear meters of planter boxes, 140 nesting boxes, and a biodiversity roof. In this way, SAWA actively contributes to strengthening urban biodiversity and demonstrates how architecture, living, nature, and sustainability can go hand in hand.
By deliberately limiting development profit and investing as much as possible in quality, circularity, biodiversity, and social inclusivity, the initiators wanted to show that sustainable area development is not only desirable but also actually feasible.
SAWA, also called the healthiest building in the Netherlands, is an exemplary project for new generations. It represents an important step towards our sustainability goals and provides tangible evidence that it can be done differently.
