diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/projects/ProjectSettings.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/projects/ProjectSettings.tsx
index 4b54eab470fdf7..1b4ee466496842 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/projects/ProjectSettings.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/projects/ProjectSettings.tsx
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * See License-AGPL.txt in the project root for license information.
  */
 
-import { useContext } from "react";
+import { useContext, useEffect, useState } from "react";
 import { useLocation } from "react-router";
 import { Project, ProjectSettings, Team } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
 import CheckBox from "../components/CheckBox";
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import { PageWithSubMenu } from "../components/PageWithSubMenu";
 import PillLabel from "../components/PillLabel";
 import { ProjectContext } from "./project-context";
 import { FeatureFlagContext } from "../contexts/FeatureFlagContext";
+import SelectWorkspaceClass from "../settings/selectClass";
+import { BillingMode } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/billing-mode";
 
 export function getProjectSettingsMenu(project?: Project, team?: Team) {
     const teamOrUserSlug = !!team ? "t/" + team.slug : "projects";
@@ -48,6 +50,14 @@ export function ProjectSettingsPage(props: { project?: Project; children?: React
 export default function () {
     const { showPersistentVolumeClaimUI } = useContext(FeatureFlagContext);
     const { project, setProject } = useContext(ProjectContext);
+    const [teamBillingMode, setTeamBillingMode] = useState<BillingMode | undefined>(undefined);
+    const { teams } = useContext(TeamsContext);
+    const team = getCurrentTeam(useLocation(), teams);
+    useEffect(() => {
+        if (team) {
+            getGitpodService().server.getBillingModeForTeam(team.id).then(setTeamBillingMode);
+        }
+    }, [team]);
 
     if (!project) return null;
 
@@ -59,6 +69,15 @@ export default function () {
         setProject({ ...project, settings: newSettings });
     };
 
+    const setWorkspaceClass = async (value: string) => {
+        if (!project) {
+            return value;
+        }
+        const before = project.settings?.workspaceClasses?.regular;
+        updateProjectSettings({ workspaceClasses: { prebuild: value, regular: value } });
+        return before;
+    };
+
     return (
         <ProjectSettingsPage project={project}>
             <h3>Prebuilds</h3>
@@ -142,8 +161,12 @@ export default function () {
 
             {showPersistentVolumeClaimUI && (
                 <>
-                    <br></br>
-                    <h3 className="mt-12">Workspaces</h3>
+                    <SelectWorkspaceClass
+                        workspaceClass={project.settings?.workspaceClasses?.regular}
+                        enabled={BillingMode.canSetWorkspaceClass(teamBillingMode)}
+                        setWorkspaceClass={setWorkspaceClass}
+                    />
+                    {!BillingMode.canSetWorkspaceClass(teamBillingMode) && <h3 className="mt-12">Workspaces</h3>}
                     <CheckBox
                         title={
                             <span>
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/settings/Preferences.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/settings/Preferences.tsx
index 3a79d7e6c21010..99763cd42d7c69 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/settings/Preferences.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/settings/Preferences.tsx
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import SelectIDE from "./SelectIDE";
 import SelectWorkspaceClass from "./selectClass";
 import { PageWithSettingsSubMenu } from "./PageWithSettingsSubMenu";
 import { BillingMode } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/billing-mode";
+import { WorkspaceClasses } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
 
 type Theme = "light" | "dark" | "system";
 
@@ -49,13 +50,30 @@ export default function Preferences() {
         }
     };
 
+    const setWorkspaceClass = async (value: string) => {
+        const additionalData = user?.additionalData || {};
+        const prevWorkspaceClass = additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.regular;
+        const workspaceClasses = (additionalData?.workspaceClasses || {}) as WorkspaceClasses;
+        workspaceClasses.regular = value;
+        workspaceClasses.prebuild = value;
+        additionalData.workspaceClasses = workspaceClasses;
+        if (value !== prevWorkspaceClass) {
+            await getGitpodService().server.updateLoggedInUser({ additionalData });
+        }
+        return prevWorkspaceClass;
+    };
+
     return (
         <div>
             <PageWithSettingsSubMenu title="Preferences" subtitle="Configure user preferences.">
                 <h3>Editor</h3>
                 <p className="text-base text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400">Choose the editor for opening workspaces.</p>
                 <SelectIDE location="preferences" />
-                <SelectWorkspaceClass enabled={BillingMode.canSetWorkspaceClass(userBillingMode)} />
+                <SelectWorkspaceClass
+                    workspaceClass={user?.additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.regular}
+                    enabled={BillingMode.canSetWorkspaceClass(userBillingMode)}
+                    setWorkspaceClass={setWorkspaceClass}
+                />
                 <h3 className="mt-12">Theme</h3>
                 <p className="text-base text-gray-500 dark:text-gray-400">Early bird or night owl? Choose your side.</p>
                 <div className="mt-4 space-x-3 flex">
diff --git a/components/dashboard/src/settings/selectClass.tsx b/components/dashboard/src/settings/selectClass.tsx
index 7f7b14373ec366..2d3b397626c5cc 100644
--- a/components/dashboard/src/settings/selectClass.tsx
+++ b/components/dashboard/src/settings/selectClass.tsx
@@ -4,33 +4,25 @@
  * See License-AGPL.txt in the project root for license information.
  */
 
-import { useContext, useEffect, useState } from "react";
+import { useEffect, useState } from "react";
 import { getGitpodService } from "../service/service";
-import { UserContext } from "../user-context";
 import { trackEvent } from "../Analytics";
-import { WorkspaceClasses } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
 import WorkspaceClass from "../components/WorkspaceClass";
 import { SupportedWorkspaceClass } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/workspace-class";
 
 interface SelectWorkspaceClassProps {
     enabled: boolean;
+    workspaceClass?: string;
+    setWorkspaceClass: (value: string) => Promise<string | undefined>;
 }
 
 export default function SelectWorkspaceClass(props: SelectWorkspaceClassProps) {
-    const { user } = useContext(UserContext);
-
-    const [workspaceClass, setWorkspaceClass] = useState<string>(user?.additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.regular || "");
+    const [workspaceClass, setWorkspaceClass] = useState<string | undefined>(props.workspaceClass);
     const actuallySetWorkspaceClass = async (value: string) => {
-        const additionalData = user?.additionalData || {};
-        const prevWorkspaceClass = additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.regular || "";
-        const workspaceClasses = (additionalData?.workspaceClasses || {}) as WorkspaceClasses;
-        workspaceClasses.regular = value;
-        workspaceClasses.prebuild = value;
-        additionalData.workspaceClasses = workspaceClasses;
-        if (value !== prevWorkspaceClass) {
-            await getGitpodService().server.updateLoggedInUser({ additionalData });
+        const previousValue = await props.setWorkspaceClass(value);
+        if (previousValue !== value) {
             trackEvent("workspace_class_changed", {
-                previous: prevWorkspaceClass,
+                previous: previousValue,
                 current: value,
             });
             setWorkspaceClass(value);
diff --git a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/teams-projects-protocol.ts b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/teams-projects-protocol.ts
index 0f839812d0e4a6..7de2881894d47c 100644
--- a/components/gitpod-protocol/src/teams-projects-protocol.ts
+++ b/components/gitpod-protocol/src/teams-projects-protocol.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  * See License-AGPL.txt in the project root for license information.
  */
 
-import { PrebuiltWorkspaceState } from "./protocol";
+import { PrebuiltWorkspaceState, WorkspaceClasses } from "./protocol";
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from "uuid";
 import { DeepPartial } from "./util/deep-partial";
 import { WebhookEvent } from "./webhook-event";
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ export interface ProjectSettings {
     allowUsingPreviousPrebuilds?: boolean;
     // how many commits in the commit history a prebuild is good (undefined and 0 means every commit is prebuilt)
     prebuildEveryNthCommit?: number;
+    // preferred workspace classes
+    workspaceClasses?: WorkspaceClasses;
 }
 
 export interface Project {
diff --git a/components/server/ee/src/container-module.ts b/components/server/ee/src/container-module.ts
index 8eb6049c1a79bf..de87e2370401e5 100644
--- a/components/server/ee/src/container-module.ts
+++ b/components/server/ee/src/container-module.ts
@@ -46,8 +46,6 @@ import { ChargebeeService } from "./user/chargebee-service";
 import { StripeService } from "./user/stripe-service";
 import { EligibilityService } from "./user/eligibility-service";
 import { AccountStatementProvider } from "./user/account-statement-provider";
-import { WorkspaceStarterEE } from "./workspace/workspace-starter";
-import { WorkspaceStarter } from "../../src/workspace/workspace-starter";
 import { UserDeletionService } from "../../src/user/user-deletion-service";
 import { BlockedUserFilter } from "../../src/auth/blocked-user-filter";
 import { EMailDomainService, EMailDomainServiceImpl } from "./auth/email-domain-service";
@@ -105,9 +103,6 @@ export const productionEEContainerModule = new ContainerModule((bind, unbind, is
     bind(UserDeletionServiceEE).toSelf().inSingletonScope();
     rebind(UserDeletionService).to(UserDeletionServiceEE).inSingletonScope();
 
-    // workspace management
-    rebind(WorkspaceStarter).to(WorkspaceStarterEE).inSingletonScope();
-
     // acounting
     bind(AccountService).to(AccountServiceImpl).inSingletonScope();
     bind(SubscriptionService).toSelf().inSingletonScope();
diff --git a/components/server/ee/src/prebuilds/prebuild-manager.ts b/components/server/ee/src/prebuilds/prebuild-manager.ts
index 1d7523f4ba7fb7..fe6c8e0b96c6f3 100644
--- a/components/server/ee/src/prebuilds/prebuild-manager.ts
+++ b/components/server/ee/src/prebuilds/prebuild-manager.ts
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ export class PrebuildManager {
             } else {
                 span.setTag("starting", true);
                 const projectEnvVars = await projectEnvVarsPromise;
-                await this.workspaceStarter.startWorkspace({ span }, workspace, user, [], projectEnvVars, {
+                await this.workspaceStarter.startWorkspace({ span }, workspace, user, project, [], projectEnvVars, {
                     excludeFeatureFlags: ["full_workspace_backup"],
                 });
             }
@@ -273,7 +273,12 @@ export class PrebuildManager {
         }
     }
 
-    async retriggerPrebuild(ctx: TraceContext, user: User, workspaceId: string): Promise<StartPrebuildResult> {
+    async retriggerPrebuild(
+        ctx: TraceContext,
+        user: User,
+        project: Project | undefined,
+        workspaceId: string,
+    ): Promise<StartPrebuildResult> {
         const span = TraceContext.startSpan("retriggerPrebuild", ctx);
         span.setTag("workspaceId", workspaceId);
         try {
@@ -297,7 +302,7 @@ export class PrebuildManager {
             if (workspace.projectId) {
                 projectEnvVars = await this.projectService.getProjectEnvironmentVariables(workspace.projectId);
             }
-            await this.workspaceStarter.startWorkspace({ span }, workspace, user, [], projectEnvVars);
+            await this.workspaceStarter.startWorkspace({ span }, workspace, user, project, [], projectEnvVars);
             return { prebuildId: prebuild.id, wsid: workspace.id, done: false };
         } catch (err) {
             TraceContext.setError({ span }, err);
diff --git a/components/server/ee/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts b/components/server/ee/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
index 69dbd79716e2bb..960f6ec56518bc 100644
--- a/components/server/ee/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
+++ b/components/server/ee/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
@@ -1060,7 +1060,10 @@ export class GitpodServerEEImpl extends GitpodServerImpl {
                             // queued for long than a minute? Let's retrigger
                             console.warn("Retriggering queued prebuild.", prebuiltWorkspace);
                             try {
-                                await this.prebuildManager.retriggerPrebuild(ctx, user, workspaceID);
+                                const project = prebuiltWorkspace.projectId
+                                    ? await this.projectDB.findProjectById(prebuiltWorkspace.projectId)
+                                    : undefined;
+                                await this.prebuildManager.retriggerPrebuild(ctx, user, project, workspaceID);
                             } catch (err) {
                                 console.error(err);
                             }
diff --git a/components/server/ee/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts b/components/server/ee/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index 340273e55e288b..00000000000000
--- a/components/server/ee/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,39 +0,0 @@
-/**
- * Copyright (c) 2021 Gitpod GmbH. All rights reserved.
- * Licensed under the Gitpod Enterprise Source Code License,
- * See License.enterprise.txt in the project root folder.
- */
-
-import { Workspace, User, WorkspaceInstance, NamedWorkspaceFeatureFlag } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
-import { TraceContext } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/util/tracing";
-import { injectable } from "inversify";
-import { IDEConfig } from "../../../src/ide-service";
-import { WorkspaceStarter } from "../../../src/workspace/workspace-starter";
-
-@injectable()
-export class WorkspaceStarterEE extends WorkspaceStarter {
-    /**
-     * Creates a new instance for a given workspace and its owner
-     *
-     * @param workspace the workspace to create an instance for
-     */
-    protected async newInstance(
-        ctx: TraceContext,
-        workspace: Workspace,
-        previousInstance: WorkspaceInstance | undefined,
-        user: User,
-        excludeFeatureFlags: NamedWorkspaceFeatureFlag[],
-        ideConfig: IDEConfig,
-    ): Promise<WorkspaceInstance> {
-        const instance = await super.newInstance(
-            ctx,
-            workspace,
-            previousInstance,
-            user,
-            excludeFeatureFlags,
-            ideConfig,
-        );
-
-        return instance;
-    }
-}
diff --git a/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts b/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
index dc16808cb6c0ba..c1a278234ddadd 100644
--- a/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/workspace/gitpod-server-impl.ts
@@ -718,7 +718,10 @@ export class GitpodServerImpl implements GitpodServerWithTracing, Disposable {
             throw new ResponseError(ErrorCodes.PERMISSION_DENIED, "Cannot (re-)start a deleted workspace.");
         }
         const userEnvVars = this.userDB.getEnvVars(user.id);
-        let projectEnvVarsPromise = this.internalGetProjectEnvVars(workspace.projectId);
+        const projectEnvVarsPromise = this.internalGetProjectEnvVars(workspace.projectId);
+        const projectPromise = workspace.projectId
+            ? this.projectDB.findProjectById(workspace.projectId)
+            : Promise.resolve(undefined);
 
         await mayStartPromise;
 
@@ -727,6 +730,7 @@ export class GitpodServerImpl implements GitpodServerWithTracing, Disposable {
             ctx,
             workspace,
             user,
+            await projectPromise,
             await userEnvVars,
             await projectEnvVarsPromise,
             {
@@ -1199,6 +1203,7 @@ export class GitpodServerImpl implements GitpodServerWithTracing, Disposable {
                 ctx,
                 workspace,
                 user,
+                project,
                 await envVars,
                 await projectEnvVarsPromise,
             );
@@ -2980,6 +2985,7 @@ export class GitpodServerImpl implements GitpodServerWithTracing, Disposable {
         let user = this.checkAndBlockUser("getSupportedWorkspaceClasses");
         let selectedClass = await WorkspaceClasses.getConfiguredOrUpgradeFromLegacy(
             user,
+            undefined,
             this.config.workspaceClasses,
             this.entitlementService,
         );
diff --git a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-classes.ts b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-classes.ts
index fe64dc8c159b95..685f94123dcdd9 100644
--- a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-classes.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-classes.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 import { WorkspaceDB } from "@gitpod/gitpod-db/lib";
-import { User, Workspace } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
+import { Project, User, Workspace } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
 import { log } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/util/logging";
 import { TraceContext } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/util/tracing";
 import { EntitlementService } from "../billing/entitlement-service";
@@ -159,9 +159,13 @@ export namespace WorkspaceClasses {
      */
     export async function getConfiguredOrUpgradeFromLegacy(
         user: User,
+        project: Project | undefined,
         classes: WorkspaceClassesConfig,
         entitlementService: EntitlementService,
     ): Promise<string> {
+        if (project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.regular) {
+            return project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.regular;
+        }
         if (user.additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.regular) {
             return user.additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.regular;
         }
diff --git a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.spec.ts b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.spec.ts
index 1978645cc56032..5226cc48600d6c 100644
--- a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.spec.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.spec.ts
@@ -326,6 +326,7 @@ async function execute(builder: WorkspaceClassTestBuilder, expectedClass: string
         workspace,
         previousInstance,
         user,
+        undefined,
         entitlementService,
         config,
         workspaceDb,
diff --git a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
index f37793f0c0ff59..96dfd1ffaaf5c4 100644
--- a/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
+++ b/components/server/src/workspace/workspace-starter.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ import {
     WithReferrerContext,
     EnvVarWithValue,
     BillingTier,
+    Project,
 } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol";
 import { IAnalyticsWriter } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/analytics";
 import { log } from "@gitpod/gitpod-protocol/lib/util/logging";
@@ -204,6 +205,7 @@ export async function getWorkspaceClassForInstance(
     workspace: Workspace,
     previousInstance: WorkspaceInstance | undefined,
     user: User,
+    project: Project | undefined,
     entitlementService: EntitlementService,
     config: WorkspaceClassesConfig,
     workspaceDb: DBWithTracing<WorkspaceDB>,
@@ -217,17 +219,22 @@ export async function getWorkspaceClassForInstance(
                 if (prebuildClass) {
                     const userClass = await WorkspaceClasses.getConfiguredOrUpgradeFromLegacy(
                         user,
+                        project,
                         config,
                         entitlementService,
                     );
                     workspaceClass = WorkspaceClasses.selectClassForRegular(prebuildClass, userClass, config);
+                } else if (project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.regular) {
+                    workspaceClass = project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.regular;
                 } else if (user.additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.regular) {
                     workspaceClass = user.additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.regular;
                 }
             }
 
             if (workspace.type == "prebuild") {
-                if (user.additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.prebuild) {
+                if (project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.prebuild) {
+                    workspaceClass = project?.settings?.workspaceClasses?.prebuild;
+                } else if (user.additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.prebuild) {
                     workspaceClass = user.additionalData?.workspaceClasses?.prebuild;
                 }
             }
@@ -283,6 +290,7 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
         ctx: TraceContext,
         workspace: Workspace,
         user: User,
+        project: Project | undefined,
         userEnvVars: UserEnvVar[],
         projectEnvVars: ProjectEnvVar[],
         options?: StartWorkspaceOptions,
@@ -360,6 +368,7 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
                         workspace,
                         lastValidWorkspaceInstance,
                         user,
+                        project,
                         options.excludeFeatureFlags || [],
                         ideConfig,
                     ),
@@ -768,6 +777,7 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
         workspace: Workspace,
         previousInstance: WorkspaceInstance | undefined,
         user: User,
+        project: Project | undefined,
         excludeFeatureFlags: NamedWorkspaceFeatureFlag[],
         ideConfig: IDEConfig,
     ): Promise<WorkspaceInstance> {
@@ -874,6 +884,7 @@ export class WorkspaceStarter {
                     workspace,
                     previousInstance,
                     user,
+                    project,
                     this.entitlementService,
                     this.config.workspaceClasses,
                     this.workspaceDb,