We have appointed a consultant team for “Floating Residential” and we’re close to deciding on our preferred bidder for “Floating Wellness”.
The next phase of the Royal Victoria Dock West Vision is underway: Haptic Architects, Gort Scott, Stace and Oakridge are leading a nine-month feasibility study about the Residential concept, and we are close to deciding on our preferred bidder for the Wellness project.
In July we appointed a multidisciplinary consultant team to lead the next phase of work on the “Floating Residential” element of the Vision for Royal Victoria Dock West. The consortium is led by Haptic Architects with Gort Scott, with Stace and Oakridge responsible for the business case element.
Over nine months, the consultant team will work on design ideas and a business case. This will include two periods of public engagement and pre-application meetings with Newham Council’s planners. Royal Docks Waterways will remain responsible for delivering community and stakeholder engagement on the project, providing continuity for the public while benefiting from the consultant team’s expertise.
Scott Derben, Managing Director of Royal Docks Waterways, said:
We were impressed by the way Haptic Architects, Gort Scott and the wider team approached this project. They are well placed to help us to understand whether and how to take forward a first phase of Floating Residential. And they’ve also identified how this project is a catalyst for the holistic improvement of all of Royal Victoria Dock West – carefully balancing public good with private investment to deliver London’s most welcoming, open and vibrant water-place. We’re looking forward to working with the team over the coming months to bring that thinking to life.
Scott Grady, Director of Haptic Architects, said:
This is a genuinely unique commission, and we’re excited to be taking it forward with Royal Docks Waterways, the Royal Docks Team, and an exceptional group of consultants. Royal Victoria Dock is a remarkable place with a long and layered history that we are building on. Our job is to bring new life to the water here thoughtfully, with proper care for the dock, its heritage, and its community, designing a place that enables more people to access and enjoy the benefits of being near London’s waterways.
Floating Residential
What is it about? The Floating Residential project is seeking to create a new waterside community for Royal Victoria Dock West through residential moorings and floating homes, with additional communal infrastructure for both existing land-based and new water-based residents. It is intended to bring year-round life and activity to the area, responding to growing interest in blue-space urbanism and recognising the role water plays in health, identity, ecology and quality of life.
How does public engagement fit in? Public engagement is an important part of the feasibility study, to ensure that the work is informed by and benefiting the local community. Local public engagement experts make:good are guiding our strategy. The first period of public engagement will happen in early October, with the second in January or February next year. We will look to build on what we learned from the hundreds of local people who took part in the engagement process earlier this year. This time the sessions will be more focused on the Floating Residential concept.
What’s the focus of the October engagement? In the first instance we will be looking to understand which initial ideas offer the most benefit to the community and what the top priorities for community facilities are. We are inviting everyone to come along to meet the design team and feed into the assessment of initial ideas within the feasibility study.
What events are happening? As with earlier this year, there will be a range of options for finding out more and contributing your views:
- Drop-in sessions in the foyer of Britannia Village Hall
- A return for the very popular Thames Sailing Barge “Will”
- An online form for sharing your views
This time we are expanding our programme by including a community workshop and dedicated sessions:
- Young designers’ programme
- Fair and inclusive blue access
- Youth futures – climate career mentoring
- Community infrastructure and belonging
- Dock stories and ecologies walk
Find out more soon, including the full schedule, on this website.
The wider Vision
The Vision for Royal Victoria Dock West, a 12-hectare stretch of water set to become one of London’s most significant new public spaces and the capital’s first large-scale floating destination, was published in February 2026. The Vision comprises three elements:
- Floating Residential (see above)
- Floating Wellness – A year-round wellbeing destination combining floating lido, sauna and spa experiences, alongside expanded support for open-water swimming and increased safe, seasonal and free access to the water. Royal Docks Waterways plans to select its preferred developer-operator for the Floating Wellness project by the end of September. After entering into contract, public engagement will be the responsibility of the developer, with Royal Docks Waterways coordinating across all the projects.
- Floating Park – A new floating park for Newham comprising landscaped green space, art installations and cultural programming, addressing the borough’s shortage of accessible public green space and contributing to wider climate-resilience objectives. The concept for the Floating Park will continue to be developed within the Residential and Wellness projects as they progress.
The Vision is targeting early phases of delivery in three to five years, supporting the Mayor of London’s wider regeneration of the Royal Docks, delivered in partnership with the Mayor of Newham and backed by £5 billion of investment over the next 20 years.
Following the original announcement in February, nearly 400 local people took part in ten public engagement sessions, generating findings that have shaped the procurement processes for both Floating Wellness and Floating Residential. The full Early Stage Engagement Report is available to download in the Resources section.
Royal Victoria Dock West is well placed to be among the first waterscapes in London to benefit from the Mayor’s recently published Clean Rivers and Waterways Plan, a ten-year plan to improve water quality, expand public access and restore London’s waterways as essential environmental assets. Biodiversity improvements, climate resilience and enhanced water quality remain central to the Vision, as shown in the Environmental Strategy, also available in the Resources section.
The full Vision for Royal Victoria Dock West can be read here.
