Modular Clean Air (MCA) is a formal joint venture between Total Clean Air and Vanguard Healthcare Solutions.
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Operating as a standalone brand, Modular Clean Air combines clean air and containment expertise with advanced off-site modular construction capability to deliver UKAS17025-accredited, fully compliant cleanrooms for pharmaceutical, life science, and biotech applications.
Designed and built in Britain, validated to the highest global standards. Every MCA cleanroom is manufactured off-site and meets UKAS 17025, ISO 14644, and Good Manufacturing Practice(GMP) requirements.
Modular Clean Air made its official debut at Lab Innovations 2025, at the NEC Birmingham on29–30 October 2025, where it unveiled its full off-site manufactured modular cleanroom range, including a walk-through of an MCA cleanroom demonstrator, built for the show.
The MCA team were on hand to discuss the benefits of the cleanrooms for organisations at every stage of research and manufacturing: manufacturers can start production and scale up more rapidly, scientists can start their research more quickly.
At the event, Phillip Godden and Chris Blackwell-Frost co-presented a session titled “Smarter,Quicker, Safer: Introducing Modular Clean Air – The Next Generation of Cleanroom Solutions” on Wednesday 29th October in the Quality Infrastructure Forum.
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 14644and GMP. The result is a facility that provides the permanence and quality of a conventional build, with the benefit of being delivered rapidly.
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.
- 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: Where innovation meets scale. Large-scale, multi-story modular cleanrooms manufactured off-site. Designed for industrial-scale capacity allowing for precision-controlled processes.
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.”
Phillip adds, “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. MCA cleanrooms are manufactured off-site and combine the highest standards with delivery timelines that remove one of the biggest bottlenecks in these sectors.”
With Modular Clean Air, the MCA Cleanroom Series means smarter, faster and fully compliant solutions. MCA cleanrooms are already transforming development cycles for organisations at the forefront of research – such as pharmaceuticals and life sciences.
Infrastructure at speed
Chris Blackwell-Frost, chief executive officer of Vanguard Healthcare Solutions, takes up the story: “Vanguard is well known for supplying relocatable and modular clinical infrastructure to theNHS, 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.”
He adds, “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.”