diff --git a/local.Dockerfile b/local.Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..111274c7f40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/local.Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# Builds images used by the bridge using locally built binaries.
+#
+# In particular, it can be used to build Substrate nodes and bridge relayers. The binary that gets
+# built can be specified with the `PROJECT` build-arg. For example, to build the `substrate-relay`
+# you would do the following:
+#
+# `docker build . -f local.Dockerfile -t local/substrate-relay --build-arg=PROJECT=substrate-relay`
+#
+# See the `deployments/README.md` for all the available `PROJECT` values.
+#
+# You may use `scripts/build-containers.sh` to build all binaries and images at once.
+
+# This image needs to be binary compatible with the host machine (where images are built).
+ARG UBUNTU_RELEASE=20.04
+FROM docker.io/library/ubuntu:${UBUNTU_RELEASE} as runtime
+
+USER root
+WORKDIR /home/root
+
+# show backtraces
+ENV RUST_BACKTRACE 1
+ENV DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
+
+RUN set -eux; \
+	apt-get update && \
+	apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
+        curl ca-certificates libssl-dev && \
+    update-ca-certificates && \
+	groupadd -g 1001 user && \
+	useradd -u 1001 -g user -s /bin/sh -m user && \
+	# apt clean up
+	apt-get autoremove -y && \
+	apt-get clean && \
+	rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
+
+# switch to non-root user
+USER user
+
+WORKDIR /home/user
+
+ARG PROFILE=release
+ARG PROJECT=substrate-relay
+
+COPY --chown=user:user ./target/${PROFILE}/${PROJECT} ./
+
+# check if executable works in this container
+RUN ./${PROJECT} --version
+
+ENV PROJECT=$PROJECT
+ENTRYPOINT ["/bin/sh"]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/local.Dockerfile.dockerignore b/local.Dockerfile.dockerignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..220474b112b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/local.Dockerfile.dockerignore
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+# This file only works for `local.Dockerfile` when docker buildkit is used (see ./scripts/build-containers.sh for details)
+*
+!target/release/millau-bridge-node
+!target/release/rialto-bridge-node
+!target/release/rialto-parachain-collator
+!target/release/substrate-relay
diff --git a/scripts/build-containers.sh b/scripts/build-containers.sh
index d0af254d93f..b853b35f7f9 100755
--- a/scripts/build-containers.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-containers.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,30 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 set -eux
 
-time docker build . -t local/substrate-relay --build-arg=PROJECT=substrate-relay
-time docker build . -t local/rialto-bridge-node --build-arg=PROJECT=rialto-bridge-node
-time docker build . -t local/millau-bridge-node --build-arg=PROJECT=millau-bridge-node
-time docker build . -t local/rialto-parachain-collator --build-arg=PROJECT=rialto-parachain-collator
+if [ -z "${LOCAL:-}" ]; then
+    time docker build . -t local/substrate-relay --build-arg=PROJECT=substrate-relay
+    time docker build . -t local/rialto-bridge-node --build-arg=PROJECT=rialto-bridge-node
+    time docker build . -t local/millau-bridge-node --build-arg=PROJECT=millau-bridge-node
+    time docker build . -t local/rialto-parachain-collator --build-arg=PROJECT=rialto-parachain-collator
+else
+    if [ -z "${SKIP_BUILD:-}" ]; then
+        time cargo build -p substrate-relay -p rialto-bridge-node -p millau-bridge-node -p rialto-parachain-collator --release
+    fi
+
+    # (try to) use docker image matching the host os
+    export UBUNTU_RELEASE=`lsb_release -r -s`
+
+    # following (using DOCKER_BUILDKIT) requires docker 19.03 or above
+    DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 time docker build . -f local.Dockerfile -t local/substrate-relay \
+        --build-arg=PROJECT=substrate-relay \
+        --build-arg=UBUNTU_RELEASE=${UBUNTU_RELEASE}
+    DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 time docker build . -f local.Dockerfile -t local/rialto-bridge-node \
+        --build-arg=PROJECT=rialto-bridge-node \
+        --build-arg=UBUNTU_RELEASE=${UBUNTU_RELEASE}
+    DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 time docker build . -f local.Dockerfile -t local/millau-bridge-node \
+        --build-arg=PROJECT=millau-bridge-node \
+        --build-arg=UBUNTU_RELEASE=${UBUNTU_RELEASE}
+    DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 time docker build . -f local.Dockerfile -t local/rialto-parachain-collator \
+        --build-arg=PROJECT=rialto-parachain-collator \
+        --build-arg=UBUNTU_RELEASE=${UBUNTU_RELEASE}
+fi