IN Brief:
- Overbury has installed Adaptavate’s Breathaboard wallboard at Legal & General’s 10 Coleman Street headquarters project.
- The bio-based board stores biogenic carbon and is being used as a lower-carbon alternative to conventional plasterboard.
- The installation reflects growing demand for material substitutions that can reduce embodied carbon in fit-out and refurbishment work.
Overbury has installed Adaptavate’s Breathaboard at Legal & General’s new headquarters project at 10 Coleman Street in London, adding a bio-based wallboard system to a major commercial retrofit.
The product is being used as an alternative to conventional plasterboard. Breathaboard is designed to store biogenic carbon and is compostable at end of life, placing it within a growing group of interior products intended to reduce embodied carbon while retaining familiar installation approaches for fit-out contractors.
The 10 Coleman Street project forms part of Legal & General’s relocation of its London headquarters, with occupation expected in early 2027. The wider refurbishment is retaining around 95% of the existing structure and is expected to include low-carbon technologies such as air source heat pumps as the company works towards operational net zero across its occupied offices from 2030.
Adaptavate has already supplied or trialled Breathaboard on projects including UK Green Building Council offices, Unusual Rigging’s headquarters, and 1 Triton Square. The Legal & General installation adds a high-profile commercial scheme to that sequence, giving the product further exposure in the office refurbishment and fit-out market.
Wallboard offers a practical point of intervention for lower-carbon specification. Interior partitions, linings, and finishes are installed at scale across commercial buildings, and they are often replaced on shorter cycles than primary structure. Substituting lower-carbon materials in these areas can influence both initial project emissions and the longer-term carbon impact of future tenant churn.
Commercial retrofit is increasingly focused on that interior layer. Retaining structure can significantly reduce embodied carbon, but the benefit is weakened if replacement finishes, services, and fit-out systems are selected without regard to lifecycle impact. Corporate occupiers are also placing more emphasis on the carbon associated with their estate decisions, particularly where office relocations are tied to wider net zero commitments.
The wider materials market is responding with products that seek to reduce cement, gypsum, virgin raw material, or fossil-derived content. Cement-free concrete, recycled-content boards, engineered timber, low-carbon insulation, and bio-based finishes all sit within this movement. Each product faces the same commercial tests: consistent supply, performance evidence, installation familiarity, cost, compliance, and acceptance by designers, insurers, and building control.
That scrutiny is especially important for products replacing long-established systems. Plasterboard benefits from deep supply chains, known fire and acoustic performance, established installation methods, and familiar waste routes. Any alternative has to demonstrate more than carbon reduction; it must integrate into live construction programmes without creating uncertainty for designers or contractors.
Live commercial projects therefore play a significant role in product adoption. Use by a major fit-out contractor on a recognised client scheme helps demonstrate that alternative materials can move beyond pilot studies and into mainstream specifications. It also gives project teams practical evidence around handling, fixing, finish quality, programme impact, and coordination with adjoining systems.
The same direction can be seen in other parts of the materials market, including cement-free concrete development aimed at reducing carbon in structural applications. Different products address different parts of the building, but the direction is consistent: lower-carbon material choices are moving into schedules, packages, and site decisions.
Overbury’s installation of Breathaboard at 10 Coleman Street gives Adaptavate a stronger reference point in the commercial retrofit market. As more occupiers tie workplace projects to carbon commitments, products that can reduce embodied impact without disrupting delivery will receive closer attention from contractors, consultants, and clients.
