Josh Arghiros may have left school with just one O-level but it has not stopped him from starting a company.

He is now working with some of the world's foremost architects to bring thought-provoking designs to Brighton and Hove.

As managing director of Karis Developments, he has worked with Brighton-based architect Piers Gough and Canadian Frank Gehry, famous for building the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

You might think rubbing shoulders with such heavyweights of the architectural world would leave Josh with a high opinion of himself but he is as down to earth as the day he left school.

He said: "I took one O-level in art. I took it early and left school straight afterwards.

"I always tell people I got an A but actually it was a B.

"I had no qualifications and I ended up working on a building site. My life has been in construction ever since."

Josh, whose father was Greek-Cypriot and mother was Lebanese, soon decided he wanted to be his own boss and, aged 19, set up his first company as a contractor.

He says: "It was okay, it was a reasonable living but there was no outlet for creativity.

"It was more treading water until I found something that was really right for me."

It was while working as a contractor that Josh saw an opening on the aggregates market.

"I was working in London on a contract and while there I had to buy aggregates bagged instead of loose.

"It cost ten times more but I thought it was a good idea so I started bagging aggregates - it's now the largest bagged aggregates company in Britain."

Josh sold his holding in the company about six years ago, giving him the chance to realise his ambition of bringing good modern architecture to Brighton and Hove.

He says: "I sold out because once the infrastructure of the company was set up, it was just boring.

"Karis was started almost six years ago. It was named after my daughter.

"I set it up because I finally had the chance to do something I really wanted and architecture for me has always been a really important part of my life.

"The built environment has always had a huge effect on me and I think is more important to most people than they realise.

"It can make you happy, sad or depressed. It has an immense effect on your life and I have always been thrilled by it."

Karis is unusual in that Josh will only build in Brighton and Hove, despite having offers from outside and entering into partnership with Dutch bank and building giant ING.

Having fallen in love with the city when he moved to it aged ten, he has been determined to do his best for it ever since.

He says: "I have this ambition to bring the best architecture to Brighton and Hove.

"There are so few really brilliant architects in the world and the city is just right for it.

"I think Brighton and Hove has taken the most perfect run up to jump off a springboard. The chances for a renaissance are ripe. The council is at a crossroads.

"I believe it has the bravery to move forward and, if it does, it's going to transform the city into one of the most brilliant places in the world.

"I have no intention of ever working out of the city. I only want to do it here. I just feel very positive about the whole thing."

Inevitably, the man behind controversial designs such as 1A Connaught Road, Hove, the King Alfred site and the old Endeavour Garage site, near Preston Park, has been the target of angry comments by residents opposed to the designs.

But Josh relishes the debate his projects create. "I think it's good there is a debate about architecture. I think it's great people write in because it's a free country.

"People in the city are generally very forward-thinking."

According to Josh, his work is a vocation, not a job and he enjoys taking a hands-on approach, unlike the daily exercise he grudgingly undertakes to keep fit.

"I run six or eight miles most days and then work out. I only do it so I am healthy and fit.

"I really hate it but if I didn't do it, I would be 25 stone. My wife has told me I have got to live to an old age.

"I don't know if there is a real challenge in what I do but I really enjoy it. I am the happiest I have been in my life."