One of only 13 seaplane bases developed in England, HMS Daedalus at Lee-on-the-Solent began seaplane operations in 1917. Active during both World Wars, Daedalus was the busiest airfield in Britain on D-Day. Hovercraft joined the base in 1962, and today, the site includes a museum collection of the craft. The Ministry of Defence operated the site until 1997, after which it fell into disuse. In 1999, the waterfront zone was designated a conservation area and it remains one today.

Daedalus Waterfront is a joint venture between Patron Capital, MurrayTwohig Developments and Orwell Real Estate, whom Homes England appointed as development partners for the site. The project will provide 346 new homes and includes 76 conserved heritage buildings, of which several are Grade II listed.

Daedalus Waterfront directed the mixed-use masterplan development of the 18-hectare waterfront heritage site, with Whitby Wood as multi-disciplinary engineer, delivering civil, geotechnical and highways engineering, and utilities design. After supporting the planning application, we provided masterplan infrastructure engineering services to ensure every plot was serviced — including alterations to the public highway, public sewer infrastructure and utility connections. We also helped ensure that the costing of works and tendering was carried out efficiently.

The site has several constraints, including foul and surface water sewers, pumping stations for water mains, gas mains, and various electrical and fibreoptic cabling lines. We appraised all existing assets, providing an assessment of the most cost-effective works required to enable development of each parcel of land. For civil engineering this included the provision of a number of new bell mouths for access from the main highway network.

Section 278 agreements were undertaken, including a Section 38 agreement for a new adoptable highway. A major surface water sewer is also to be diverted. Utility companies were engaged to ensure that existing capacity from the water, gas and power networks is able to be delivered within the development programme, serving the new homes and industrial units.