An exciting new joint venture in the cleanroom sector has been launched today at Lab Innovations 2025.
The joint venture, called "Modular Clean Air", will operate as a standalone brand, stemming from a collaboration between Total Clean Air (TCA) and Vanguard Healthcare Solutions.
The UK-based companies have combined their expertise to create the new entity. TCA is a specialist in advanced clean air and contamination control solutions for critical environments, whilst Vanguard is well known for its modular construction and offsite building solutions.
Combining the clean air and containment expertise with advanced off-site modular construction capability, the new venture aims to deliver UKAS 17025-accredited, fully compliant cleanrooms for pharmaceutical, life science, and biotech applications.
Chris Blackwell-Frost, CEO of Vanguard Healthcare Solutions, takes up the story: “Vanguard is well known for supplying relocatable and modular clinical infrastructure to the NHS, delivering complex surgical facilities, diagnostic centres and patient accommodation at pace. With MCA, we are applying that same capability to the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors.”
With MCA, we are applying that same [relocatable and modular] capability to the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors
Designed and built in Britain and validated to the highest global standards, MCA cleanrooms are manufactured off-site and meet UKAS 17025, ISO 14644, and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements.
Phillip Godden, Chief Executive of Total Clean Air, told Cleanroom Technology: "With direct experience as end users in pharma, we have walked the journey and have engineered solutions that improve every aspect of critical clean air infrastructure."
Godden feels that the industry has stagnated for too long, and that the new venture's modular facilities will be "quicker, smarter and safer".
Modular Clean Air will make its official debut at Lab Innovations 2025, at the NEC Birmingham on 29–30 October 2025, where it will unveil its full off-site manufactured modular cleanroom range, including a walk-through of an MCA cleanroom demonstrator, built for the show.
For this, the MCA team will be on hand to enable delegates to use VR for a full immersive experience.
What does MCA's modular cleanroom have to offer the industry?
Traditional build cleanrooms, constructed on site with a steel or timber frame, wallboards, and then fitted out, often take at least 12 to 18 months to complete.
MCA’s approach uses precision-engineered modular units, pre-built to exacting factory standards and fully compliant with ISO 14644 and GMP. The result is a facility that provides the permanence and quality of a conventional build, with the benefit of being delivered rapidly.
Manufacturers can start production and scale up more rapidly. Scientists can start their research more quickly.
The MCA Cleanroom Series is manufactured off-site and can be installed almost anywhere, from a car park to a brownfield site, without compromising on compliance or performance.
There are 3 categories or "series" of this new offering:
- Series 1: Self-contained, fully controlled. Containerised single-story cleanrooms that are manufactured off-site and fully building control and fire regulation compliant.
- Series 2: Mobility meets compliance. Purpose-built relocatable cleanrooms manufactured off-site. Permanent-quality builds delivered to GMP and building regulations standards with rapid timelines.
- Series 3 [See above]: Where innovation meets scale. Large-scale, multi-story modular cleanrooms manufactured off-site. Designed for industrial-scale capacity, allowing for precision-controlled processes.
Series 2
Series 1
Meeting the market’s need for speed
During the COVID-19 crisis, the need for rapid cleanroom deployment became critical.
Phillip Godden, Chief Executive of Total Clean Air, explains: “Pharmaceutical manufacturers faced huge pressures to develop vaccines and get them to market. We proved that we could deliver at speed, including a 2,700 sqm cleanroom in under 12 weeks.”
Godden added: “Speed is vital for drug development, life sciences, biotech. The faster that a compliant, operational facility is available, the faster R&D, manufacturing and testing can happen."
He explains that delivery timelines are one of the biggest bottlenecks in these sectors and that it needs time and energy to address. Godden tells Cleanroom Technology that the MCA is being created on the founding principle of "We Care", prioritising Modern Methods of Construction and a lifelong relationship with end users.
Blackwell-Frost concluded: “Our experience in delivering complex projects across some of the most technically diverse clients in healthcare, combined with our financial strength, means MCA clients can access performant, high quality cleanroom infrastructure within a commercial model that meets the demands of the pharmaceutical and life sciences markets. Delivering rapidly without compromising technical compliance is a key differentiator.”
Top image: Series 3