Construction of SAWA, Rotterdam's first wooden residential tower, has been put on hold due to a shortage of timber and other construction materials.
Work on the SAWA project, a 50-metre-high cross-laminated timber tower by Mei Architects, has been delayed until September.
"The timber shortage is a problem at the moment," said Harmen Brink, a representative of the project. "The prices of timber are explosively high at the moment, which makes it a bit more difficult."
SAWA will be Rotterdam's first wooden residential tower
Described as "the most eco-friendly buildings in the Netherlands," the 16-storey SAWA project will provide 109 homes in the former dock area of Schiemond in Rotterdam.
Over 90 per cent of the wedge-shaped block, including its structure, will be built of CLT using timber coming from sustainably managed forest in Scandinavia. "For every tree felled for SAWA, three trees are replanted," the project's website says. Construction of the tower has been delayed
The project will use 4,500 cubic metres of timber, which will sequester 2,800 tonnes of atmospheric carbon, according to the architect, who claimed the project will be carbon negative.
But Mieke Winkel of Mei Architects added: "To be honest, we do not yet know what the [carbon] impact will be on the total lifecycle of the project. That is being calculated."
SAWA will be built from 4,500 cubic metres of timber
Winkel added that the delay was due to more genera...