Emotional moment Kevin McCloud meets Grand Designs baby after 25 years

by · Mail Online

This is the emotional moment Kevin McCloud revisited the first-ever Grand Designs couple 25 years on - and met their son, who was then just a baby. 

In tonight's episode of the Channel 4 show, Kevin travels back to Newhaven to meet Julia Brock and Tim Cox, who built the show's first-ever home in 1999. 

The couple were in a race against time to build their home by the East Sussex coast before their new baby arrived - giving themselves just three months to complete the project. 

But things didn't go entirely to plan and when Kevin last visited the home, newborn Tiger had come along but the home was barely finished. 

Now, 25 years later, Kevin returned to the site and emotionally reunited with a now-grown-up Tiger, back in the house where it all began. 

This is the emotional moment Kevin McCloud visited the first-ever Grand Designs couple 25 years on - and met their son, who was then just a baby. Pictured: Tiger, who is now 26
Kevin returned to the site and emotionally reunited with a now-grown-up Tiger, back in the house where it all began

Kevin, 65, was thrilled to see Tiger again - now a 26-year-old full-time paragliding instructor and children's author, who also looks after a falcon. 

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Barely concealing his excitement, Kevin exclaimed: 'Last time I saw you, you fitted into a shoebox!' 

Tiger joked: 'I think I was in a wheelbarrow the last time you saw me!'

He reflected on how important his parents' build was for him growing up, particularly being so closely surrounded by nature and the sea. 

He said: 'My parents had a very hands-off approach to parenting. They'd just kick me out, I was going to build a den. And then, when dinner was ready, the bell would ring. 

'It was like something from Paddy Clarke or some old-school story.'

His father, Tim, added: 'It was nice for Tiger, growing up here. Especially because it's a massive area that was his kingdom.'

In the emotional reunion, Kevin was shown clips of Tiger as a child enjoying the home and garden. 

The first-ever episode of Grand Designs, which aired back in 1999, showed Tiger as a baby
Tiger (pictured with mum Jules in 1999) had arrived before the couple had the chance to complete their new home in Newhaven, East Sussex
Now a 26-year-old paragliding instructor, Tiger still lives at home and even raises a falcon
Tiger took after his father's love of paragliding, and had enjoyed growing up in the home
Julia Brock and Tim Cox, who were the show's first ever couple, returned to screens once again after 25 yeasrs

In the 1999 episode, Tim and Jules, paragliding school owners and parents of four daughters between them, wanted to build their new family home on the cliffs in a record three months. 

After selling their family home gave them £30,000 equity, the couple looked to build a large family home from scratch for £60,000, with extra for a decking and garden.  

Their need for such a lightning quick build stemmed from Jules's pregnancy, as the couple intended to have their first baby together in their brand new house. 

However, groundworks and erection of their timber frame kit, specially designed for speed, did not go to plan. 

More problems followed, from unexpected costs to materials not arriving in time, meaning Jules and Tim’s home birth dream was in serious jeopardy. 

When Kevin last visited newborn Tiger had come along, but the house was barely finished, and the new baby meant work was taking 'ten to 20 times longer'. 

In Wednesday's episode, he revisits the house after a quarter of a decade to find out whether Tim and Jules's barely completed first home stood the test of time. 

In the emotional reunion, Kevin was shown clips of Tiger as a child enjoying the home and garden
When Kevin last visited in 1999, the property still had much work to be done (pictured)

Last week, Grand Designs viewers slammed a couple's ambitious project to transform a water tower into a family home as the show's 'worst idea ever'. 

Tassy and Adam shocked Kevin with the project, located on an estate in Northamptonshire. 

They hoped to transform the abandoned tower into a unique nine-bedroom home to live in with their three young children, complete with a swimming pool, slides, fireman's pole and sky garden. 

But by the end of the episode - and after five years' work - the project was nowhere near completion, and all they'd achieved was building some concrete walls. 

As he visited the building site, Kevin noted that the exterior hadn't changed at all and the project appeared to have been on hold for the past two years. 

Last week, Adam and Tassy set about the seemingly impossible task of converting an old water tower in Northamptonshire into a home for themselves and their three children
Viewers were left aghast at the lack of progress and slammed the design as a 'concrete hell'

Viewers were left aghast at the lack of progress and slammed the design as a 'concrete hell'. 

They wrote on X/Twitter: 'Why on earth did they think this was a good idea?! This must be the worst choice ever on this show. The noise from the sub-station alone (forgetting the possible health issues) makes it an absolute no-no. The mind boggles';

'You could give that job another 5 years & it wouldn’t be finished. Ridiculous trying to do a project like that with very limited funds & professional work force. No surprise it still looks like it does';

'Oh yes, and if the concrete monster wasn't enough, there's an electrical substation with loud hum next to it AND a train line. Sanity of those 'parents' in serious doubt';

Grand Designs airs again tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.