WORK on a brand-new brain injury centre in York has been completed, creating a "world class" facility for adult rehabilitation.

The hospital, created for Brainkind, formerly The Disabilities Trust, includes 36 beds across four wards plus four assessment flats. Residents will also benefit from new courtyards and a therapeutic garden designed to help aid recovery following often complex brain injuries.

The centre, which will create 145 jobs in the city, was delivered by property developer, HBD, part of the Henry Boot Group, on behalf of Brainkind. After more than 20 years operating from York House at The Retreat in Heslington Road, Brainkind needed to find a new location. HBD’s Chocolate Works offered the "perfect" spot for its new purpose-built centre.

Tom Wheldon, head of region at HBD, said: “This has been an incredibly rewarding project that will deliver enormous benefit, providing adults who have an acquired brain injury with the very best treatment, care and support as they recover.

"We’re very pleased to have been able to support Brainkind in securing the right location for their new centre, which will no doubt serve them well for many years to come.”

Brainkind works to improve the lives of people with acquired brain injury. This new facility will allow it to continue providing adults with support and care during their recovery while setting a new benchmark for acquired brain injury rehabilitation.

The new building is also "highly sustainable" - designed to EPC A and BREEAM Excellent standard and with the flexibility to embrace new low carbon technology. It limits embedded and operational carbon, with emissions expected to be 29 per cent lower than the national building target emission rate. Clean, renewable energy is generated on site via roof-mounted PV panels and filtered fresh air is provided through high-efficiency heat recovery ventilation units.

GMI Construction was the appointed contractor on the project, which will now be fitted-out before opening its doors later this year.

The completion of the building marks the final phase of HBD’s award-winning Chocolate Works development, a decade-long project that included the restoration of the former Terry’s Chocolate Orange Factory and recently saw the Clock Tower transformed into apartments, with the iconic clock ticking once again.

HBD is an award-winning developer working from six UK offices. Its £1.26bn development pipeline includes many of the country’s most high-profile new schemes across industrial and logistics, urban regeneration and the residential sectors. The firm said it has built a reputation for delivering places with purpose, focusing on impactful development that makes a difference.