You Won’t See One Essential Home Feature in the 'Barbie' Movie Dreamhouse — Here’s Why (Exclusive)

PEOPLE chatted with ‘Barbie’ production designer Sarah Greenwood about the hidden design details of the incredible Dreamhouse

While humans certainly factor in stairs when designing their ultimate dream home, Barbie only needs a slide!

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE for the Special Edition Barbie issue, the film's production designer Sarah Greenwood revealed the design secrets behind the pink maximalist Dreamhouse that Margot Robbie’s character calls home, including the “massively complicated” engineering feats in the wall-less, stair-less space.

“They defy architectural logic,” Greenwood tells PEOPLE of the beloved toy houses. Just like little kids move their barbies from room to room without even thinking about stairs, Robbie’s character strictly uses a slide to get her safely to the ground (or simply just floats down).

Greenwood explains that they had to hide real stairs in the built sets so the actors could move between levels. “There are staircases throughout [for] safety,” says Greenwood. “We tried every which way so they’re not seen.”

Related: Margot Robbie Shows Off the Barbie Dreamhouse — Complete with Waterless Pool, Hot Pink Kitchen and Large Slide

In the movie, the Dreamhouse includes a hot pink spiral slide that Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken, and Robbie actually used while filming.

“There’s a wire so that they could control the speed,” says Greenwood. “And there were a couple of [unseen] posts to hold it up.”

Once Robbie made her way down the slide she was able to walk effortlessly across the faux pool, which is made out of resin. 

Related: Every Photo From the 'Barbie' Movie Starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling

Greenwood worked with director Greta Gerwig and costume designer Jacqueline Durran to dream up the Barbie universe, which is stacked with a number of illusions.

They wanted the set to resemble the toy as much as possible, so tiny details like a water-less shower and a mirror-less vanity were a must. They even played around with the scale of the home to create a toy-like effect.

“The roof is only about 1 ft. higher than your head, because that’s the way Barbies are when they’re standing in a Dreamhouse,” Gerwig noted. Greenwood adds, “Everything we built—the houses, the cars—is 22 percent smaller than they would be in real life.”

Related: 'Barbie' Cast on Representation and the 'Coolest Thing About Being a Barbie' (Exclusive Clip)

In order to bring Barbieland to life, Gerwig, Greenwood and Durran were constantly on the phone during the world-building process to determine the rules of the universe.

While they eventually landed on a hypersaturated realm that was inspired by “just endless fun,” Greenwood says, the set also made nods to Gerwig’s love of 1950s musicals and real-life places in Southern California.

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As for Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), her fantastical modern home has everything a Barbie’s home shouldn’t have — like crooked stairs leading into the entryway and an abstract design.

“One of my early references is that you go up the stairs, and there’s the Psycho house, and we brought in other elements.” Greenwood revealed during an interview with Variety. “Its design was deliberately skewed with everything pushed out of shape and out of order.”

PEOPLE's special Barbie issue is on newsstands now and available to purchase online.

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