Driving Circularity Across Major London Fit-Outs

Material Index was appointed by Overbury Plc to manage the procurement of affordable sustainable site set-up materials across a portfolio of high-profile London commercial fit-out projects, including 1 Broadgate, 10 Coleman Street, and 76 Southbank. The objective was to furnish professional, high-functioning site set-up offices while adhering to strict sustainability targets and protecting project margins.

Through our marketplace we have supplied secondary carpet tiles, salvaged commercial lockers, used office desks, and high-spec second-hand office chairs to date. For the 1 Broadgate site office, the logistical capability of the platform was demonstrated through the salvage of 91 desks from a central London strip-out. Material Index managed the end-to-end process: dismantling the assets, providing secure storage for two months, and coordinating a palletised delivery to align with the project timeline.

By procuring secondary materials, these projects achieved significant embodied carbon savings and supported a circular approach to procurement. The 'Just-in-Time' delivery model ensured high-quality pre-use office furnishings were reused rather than discarded, bypassing several tonnes of CO2 associated with new manufacturing.

This partnership highlights a shift toward circularity as a functional, cost-effective reality for the UK's leading contractors, and showcases how a sustainable site-set up can actually improve margins by delivering considerable cost savings.