diff --git a/DEVELOPER.md b/DEVELOPER.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ae98f6ba6a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/DEVELOPER.md
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+# Developer documentation
+
+Envoy Gateway is built using a [make](https://www.gnu.org/software/make/)-based
+build system. Our CI is based on [Github Actions](https://docs.github.com/en/actions) (see: [workflows](.github/workflows))
+
+## Prerequisites
+
+### go
+* Version: 1.18.2
+* Installation Guide: https://go.dev/doc/install to
+
+### make
+* Recommended Version: 4.3 
+* Installation Guide: https://www.gnu.org/software/make/).
+
+### docker
+* Optional when you want to build a Docker image or run make inside Docker.
+* Recommened Version: 20.10.16
+* Installation Guide: https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/
+
+### linters
+* [TODO](https://github.com/envoyproxy/gateway/issues/73)
+
+* If you do not have these tools installed on your machine,
+you can alternatively run `MAKE_IN_DOCKER=1 make <target>` to run `make` inside a Docker container which has all the
+preinstalled tools needed to support all the `make` targets.
+
+## Quick start
+
+[TODO](https://github.com/envoyproxy/gateway/issues/101) Run `make help` to see all the available targets to build, test
+and run `envoy-gateway`.
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 30a87792a2..1e23087f5e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,38 +1,28 @@
-# Golang variables
-GOOS ?= $(shell go env GOOS)
-GOARCH ?= $(shell go env GOARCH)
-
-# Docker variables
-# REGISTRY is the image registry to use for build and push image targets.
-REGISTRY ?= docker.io/envoyproxy
-# IMAGE is the image URL for build and push image targets.
-IMAGE ?= ${REGISTRY}/gateway-dev
-# REV is the short git sha of latest commit.
-REV=$(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
-# Tag is the tag to use for build and push image targets.
-TAG ?= $(REV)
-
-.PHONY: build
-build:  ## Build the envoy-gateway binary
-	@CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -a -o ./bin/${GOOS}/${GOARCH}/ github.com/envoyproxy/gateway/cmd/envoy-gateway
-
-build-linux-amd64:
-	@GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 $(MAKE) build
-
-build-linux-arm64:
-	@GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 $(MAKE) build
-
-build-all: build-linux-amd64 build-linux-arm64
-
-.PHONY: test
-test:
-	@go test ./...
-
-.PHONY: docker-build
-docker-build: build-all ## Build the envoy-gateway docker image.
-	@DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build -t $(IMAGE):$(TAG) -f Dockerfile bin 
-
-.PHONY: docker-push
-docker-push: ## Push the docker image for envoy-gateway.
-	docker push $(IMAGE):$(TAG)
-
+# This is a wrapper around `make` so it can run 
+# directly on the host or inside a container
+#
+# All make targets must be defined in Makefile.targets.mk 
+
+# Set MAKE_IN_DOCKER=1 as an envioronment variable to run `make` inside
+# a Docker container with preinstalled tools.
+
+DOCKER_BUILDER_IMAGE ?= envoyproxy/gateway-dev-builder
+DOCKER_BUILDER_TAG ?= latest
+DOCKER_BUILD_CMD ?= DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build
+DOCKER_RUN_CMD ?= docker run \
+		  --rm \
+		  -it \
+		  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
+		  -v ${PWD}:/workspace 
+
+%:
+ifeq ($(MAKE_IN_DOCKER), 1)
+# Build builder image
+	@$(DOCKER_BUILD_CMD) -t $(DOCKER_BUILDER_IMAGE):$(DOCKER_BUILDER_TAG) - < tools/Dockerfile.builder
+# Run make inside the builder image
+# Run with MAKE_IN_DOCKER=0 to eliminate an infinite loop
+	@$(DOCKER_RUN_CMD) $(DOCKER_BUILDER_IMAGE):$(DOCKER_BUILDER_TAG) MAKE_IN_DOCKER=0 $@
+else
+# Run make locally	
+	@$(MAKE) -f Makefile.targets.mk $@
+endif
diff --git a/Makefile.targets.mk b/Makefile.targets.mk
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..75f76ca77e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Makefile.targets.mk
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# Golang variables
+GOOS ?= $(shell go env GOOS)
+GOARCH ?= $(shell go env GOARCH)
+
+# Docker variables
+# REGISTRY is the image registry to use for build and push image targets.
+REGISTRY ?= docker.io/envoyproxy
+# IMAGE is the image URL for build and push image targets.
+IMAGE ?= ${REGISTRY}/gateway-dev
+# REV is the short git sha of latest commit.
+REV=$(shell git rev-parse --short HEAD)
+# Tag is the tag to use for build and push image targets.
+TAG ?= $(REV)
+
+.PHONY: build
+build:  ## Build the envoy-gateway binary
+	@CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -a -o ./bin/${GOOS}/${GOARCH}/ github.com/envoyproxy/gateway/cmd/envoy-gateway
+
+build-linux-amd64:
+	@GOOS=linux GOARCH=amd64 $(MAKE) build
+
+build-linux-arm64:
+	@GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 $(MAKE) build
+
+build-all: build-linux-amd64 build-linux-arm64
+
+.PHONY: test
+test:
+	@go test ./...
+
+.PHONY: docker-build
+docker-build: build-all ## Build the envoy-gateway docker image.
+	@DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build -t $(IMAGE):$(TAG) -f Dockerfile bin 
+
+.PHONY: docker-push
+docker-push: ## Push the docker image for envoy-gateway.
+	@docker push $(IMAGE):$(TAG)
+
diff --git a/tools/Dockerfile.builder b/tools/Dockerfile.builder
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d58801f89e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/Dockerfile.builder
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# Make sure the tooling versions are same as defined in the 
+# CI https://github.com/envoyproxy/gateway/blob/main/.github/workflows/build_and_test.yaml
+# as well as in the Developer docs - https://github.com/envoyproxy/gateway/blob/main/DEVELOPER.md#prerequisites
+
+# go
+FROM golang:1.18.2 as builder
+# docker CLI
+RUN curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | VERSION=20.10.16 sh 
+
+WORKDIR /workspace
+ENTRYPOINT ["make"]