Opportunity
A defined area of the historic Royal Victoria Dock has been identified within the Royal Victoria Dock West Vision as suitable for Floating Residential development, one of three Priority Projects set out in the Vision. Royal Docks Waterways is inviting expressions of interest from experienced teams to deliver a multidisciplinary feasibility study about Floating Residential in the historic Royal Victoria Dock.
The opportunity is to create a welcoming, well-designed and environmentally led residential community on the water, supported by shared social and communal facilities that serve both waterside residents and the surrounding neighbourhood. The ambition is to establish a new benchmark for water-based living in London, combining high-quality design with strong community integration.
The next phase of work will advance the Floating Residential concept to the feasibility stage, testing the viability of a residential proposition and identifying how an initial phase could be delivered.
Alongside this, Royal Docks Waterways is seeking a client-side Design Advisor and Champion to support the delivery of the wider Royal Victoria Dock West Vision. This role will work across projects to help coordinate design quality, coherence and ambition as individual schemes come forward, ensuring a consistent and high-quality approach across the dock.
Background to the project
Royal Docks Waterways completed the Vision for Royal Victoria Dock West in 2025, building on a programme of research, feasibility work and engagement led by the Royal Docks Team and its consultants since 2019. The Royal Docks Team is a partnership between the Mayor of London (the GLA is the freeholder of the water) and the Mayor of Newham, responsible for steering the regeneration of the Royal Docks. The Vision identifies the southern edge of Royal Victoria Dock West as a suitable location to explore Floating Residential as a Priority Project. It establishes the strategic case for this use, while recognising that questions around scale, typology and delivery approach will need to be tested through subsequent feasibility work.
The Vision document, including the indicative location and proposed strategic approach to Floating Residential, is available to download. Further detail is set out within the Expression of Interest pack.
FAQs
We will keep this section updated as new information comes available and we will show clearly what information has been added after the website was launched on 23 February 2026.
Download the Expression of Interest (EOI) document by filling out the form on this page. This contains more technical information and sets out what interested bidders need to submit. There is no obligation to submit an EOI after downloading the document. Once the EOI is complete, please email to rvdw@royaldockswaterways.com with any other relevant documents.
Royal Docks Waterways will decide which Expressions of Interest are to be progressed, in collaboration with the Royal Docks Team and with the support of appointed advisors. A shortlist of bidders will then be invited to submit more detailed proposals, which will then be reviewed and decided on by the same group, in consultation with some local anchor institutions. All applications and proposals will be treated in the strictest of confidence, subject to the obligations imposed on Royal Docks Waterways by law.
Please email rvdw@royaldockswaterways.com to set up an online meeting.
The areas available for the Royal Victoria Dock West Vision are within the lease area of Royal Docks Waterways, with the Greater London Authority as freeholder.
The timeline is subject to change, because third parties still need to be procured or contracted with, however the aspiration that everyone is working towards is that people can benefit from the Royal Victoria Dock West Vision before 2030. Achieving this goal would rely on starting the Floating Residential feasibility in 2026 and progressing to design development, engagement and Planning in 2027 and then construction and openings 2028-2029. The Priority Projects will come forward in a staged way, rather than one big bang and will be subject to decisions by at least Royal Docks Waterways, the Royal Docks Team / GLA and London Borough of Newham.
Royal Docks Waterways is a non-profit business with a board that includes anchor institutions including the GLA, London Borough of Newham, Excel London, London City Airport and University of East London.
It has built up reserves through its trading activity and will allocate its own funds to support the early stages of the Vision. In parallel, it will seek to work with third-party partners and investors to bring forward the Priority Projects in line with the Vision.
Any funding approach will be guided by public-interest objectives, long-term stewardship of the docks and the requirement to reinvest surpluses back into the Royal Docks.
Get in touch
We’re keen to hear from you, whether it is about pursuing an opportunity, or finding out more as a local stakeholder or resident.
Leave your name, email and organisation (if relevant) and we’ll keep you posted with updates.
