IN Brief:
- 33-35 Piccadilly is set to become the first UK building using the specified carbon-captured evoBuild concrete.
- The project mix combines carbon-captured cement with GGBS for the West End commercial redevelopment.
- Project data targets upfront embodied carbon below 515kgCO2e/m² while maintaining conventional structural performance.
The Crown Estate’s 33-35 Piccadilly development in London is set to become the first UK building to use Heidelberg Materials’ evoBuild concrete made with carbon-captured cement. The material is being introduced on the West End commercial redevelopment as the project team seeks to reduce embodied carbon without changing the structural performance expected from conventional concrete.
The project-specific mix combines cement produced using carbon capture and storage technology with ground granulated blast-furnace slag, or GGBS. The resulting concrete is expected to cut carbon by around 35% compared with a standard concrete used for the same application. Basement construction is the first identified use on the scheme, pairing the mix with a waterproofing system for the below-ground structure.
The Crown Estate is the client, with Kier acting as main contractor, Realtime Civil Engineering involved in the substructure works, and DSDHA responsible for architectural design. The redevelopment will provide about 3,000 sq ft of retail and food-and-beverage space at ground level and around 30,000 sq ft of offices above, increasing the amount of office and retail floor space on the site by approximately 85%.
The material decision sits within a broader carbon target for the building rather than being treated as a stand-alone substitution. Project information published with the announcement puts expected upfront carbon below 515kgCO2e/m², compared with a 595kgCO2e/m² limit referenced for new-build office projects commencing construction in 2025 under the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard. The building is also designed for an energy-use intensity of 56.8kWh/m² a year.
The concrete specification addresses one part of the building’s carbon account while the operational target addresses another. Cement is difficult to decarbonise because a substantial share of its emissions comes from the chemical conversion of limestone into clinker, not simply from fuel burned in manufacture. Reducing clinker content with supplementary cementitious materials and capturing process emissions are separate measures that can therefore be combined in one mix.
Heidelberg Materials’ evoBuild range is structured around defined carbon or circularity thresholds. In the UK, products carrying the brand must meet specified reductions against an identified reference, while GGBS remains an established route for lowering Portland cement content in concrete. The Piccadilly mix combines that substitution route with cement linked to carbon capture, applying two forms of emissions reduction to the same structural material.
The carbon-capture element introduces a newer supply route. Heidelberg Materials’ Brevik plant in Norway operates an industrial-scale carbon capture and storage facility designed to capture around 400,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, roughly half of the plant’s emissions. Carbon-captured cement from Brevik has already entered the UK market by sea, providing a commercial source for projects before equivalent British production is available at scale.
On a live construction site, the carbon value reported for a mix is only part of the specification. Concrete procurement is tied to pour sequencing, reinforcement, formwork cycles, early-age strength, pumping, curing, and weather conditions. A lower-carbon mix that disrupts striking times or delays subsequent trades can move cost and programme pressure elsewhere, so environmental performance and buildability have to be considered together.
The 33-35 Piccadilly team is using a material intended for normal reinforced and unreinforced applications rather than a one-off laboratory demonstration. Heidelberg Materials states that its evoBuild concrete is supplied within existing UK concrete standards, although project-specific mix design, testing, quality control, and placement requirements remain necessary. That gives the Piccadilly scheme value as a construction reference rather than simply a product showcase.
The site also imposes the usual West End constraints. Basement construction has to proceed within a dense commercial district where deliveries, concrete wagons, pumping operations, noise, pedestrian routes, and neighbouring occupiers compete for limited space. Any new material specification has to fit that logistics plan rather than demand a construction method the site cannot accommodate.
The development forms part of a wider programme across The Crown Estate’s central London portfolio. Construction at 33-35 Piccadilly began before the evoBuild announcement, alongside other West End projects including New Zealand House and 10 Spring Gardens. The concrete decision has therefore been incorporated into an active procurement and delivery process rather than reserved for a future concept scheme.
As lower-carbon concrete specifications become more common, project comparisons will increasingly depend on verifiable data rather than broad percentage claims. Environmental Product Declarations, mix-specific carbon values, structural performance, transport, curing, and programme effects all influence whether one option is preferable for a particular application.
At 33-35 Piccadilly, the first UK use of this carbon-captured evoBuild mix will provide a practical reference for those factors on a constrained commercial project. The environmental target is quantified; the construction programme now has to demonstrate that the specification can be delivered while maintaining the structural and sequencing requirements set for the scheme.
