Star Buys: Oliver Heath

 "Green Heath"

There’s no denying it: recycling is in Oliver Heath’s blood. “I grew up in Brighton and was continually pulling things out of the sea and collecting old things from the beach,” he says. Well, don’t we all?

Heath came to fame in the late 1990s when he won the BBC’s Young Designer Of The Year competition. From there he went on to be the eco-conscious voice on Changing Rooms, the series that did more for sales of MDF than anything else.

Oliver grew up in Brighton before leaving to study architecture at university. He moved back to Brighton several years ago and turned a four-bedroom Victorian terrace house in Brighton’s North Laine into a temple to all things green.

And, of course, making a leaky old terrace into an environmentally sound palace is the ultimate act of recycling. This year he has moved on and is now in the process of greening a detached 1960s family home in Hove.

Woefully un-eco-friendly at the start, he is convinced that he can turn what he describes as “ugly” into something of real value. “The house of the future: efficient to run and low in CO2 emissions, but also nurturing and personal – a good home to live in and a great place to bring up my children,” he told The Guardian earlier this year.

More recently, Heath has been seen on ITV’s Dream Homes, and, never one to let the grass grow under his feet, he has also penned three books: The Home Book, Front Of House, and most recently, Urban Eco Chic.

On top of all his media appearances and a thriving interior design consultancy, Oliver also created an online eco home store (www.ecocentric.co.uk), which he recently sold to Nigel Berman.

This year Oliver will be appearing at Grand Designs Live Birmingham, which takes place at the NEC from 8–10 October.

Book tickets now for Grand Designs Live at the NEC, Birmingham, and save £5, 0871 230 5583, www.granddesignslive.com (free entry for children).