Daedalus Waterfront Masterplan

The Daedalus Waterfront Masterplan required a sensitive approach to unlock a historically significant former naval aviation base, and transform it into a vibrant mixed-use waterfront community. The scheme, delivered by Patron Capital, Murray Twohig Developments and Orwell Real Estate, needed to balance heritage preservation, including 13 Listed buildings and the world's largest collection of Hovercraft in the Hovercraft Museum, with the delivery of new workspaces, homes, and public realm, while remaining sensitive to local community and Homes England’s objectives. The solution was a robust vision focused on jobs, opportunity, support for the Hovercraft Museum and wider community regeneration that required a viable strategy to unlock development plots and ensure the long-term sustainability of the site.

G&T provided Cost Management, Procurement and Employer's Agent services to support a deliverable and commercially robust masterplan. This included preparing a detailed cost plan and a carefully considered infrastructure phasing strategy, designed to minimise upfront expenditure while enabling plots to come forward incrementally for development or sale. Our approach aligned with the wider vision of creating a place that combines homes, employment space and community assets, ensuring that early phases could generate momentum, attract investment and support ongoing stakeholder engagement.

Unanimous planning approval was secured, establishing a clear framework for a phased, mixed-use development that will deliver homes, jobs, public spaces and a revitalised visitor destination. G&T’s strategy enabled development plots to be unlocked efficiently, creating a mechanism to fund infrastructure and future phases while supporting the wider ambition to restore pride and purpose to the site. This positions Daedalus Waterfront as a long term, sustainable community where heritage, economic growth and social value are delivered in tandem.