Man seeks to make small homes from mansion

SYDNEY, April 8 (UPI) -- An architect applying for an Australian zoo's Green Grants initiative says he wants to tear down "McMansions" to build smaller homes from the materials.

Mathieu Gallois of Sydney, a finalist for the $50,000 funding offered by the Taronga Zoo Green Grants initiative, said he would use the money to tear down a large home and use the resulting materials to build multiple smaller, more environmentally friendly and cost-effective homes, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Friday.

"(New South Wales) has some of the biggest homes in Australia," Gallois said. "Bigger houses require more energy. This (project) would take a poor housing model and create the very best -- a zero emissions home."

Gallois said he is seeking "McMansions" to fit the project.

"We need someone with both the unsustainable home, and who is also able to finance the rebuild," he said.