Heads are rolling in the world of architecture, as up-and-coming Turvy Company has introduced an idea that they claim to be revolutionary: building houses from the attic down.
As if that wasn’t reason enough to be interested, artists, builders, and designers all over are calling it “a masterpiece of innovation” that is sure to benefit the house as whole due to “its incredible focus on just one aspect of the structure while ignoring the rest.” Those in the market are fighting to get their hands on a Turvy house.
We headed over to the company headquarters to chat with some workers and see just how this magnificent building is supposed to work. Our first introduction was to Mr. Banks, Turvy‘s construction manager.
“We start at the top,” he explains, “We make the attic the strongest structure. About forty-eight percent of our building supplies go toward the attic. We divide the remaining fifty-two percent of supplies between the lower four floors. Sometimes we run out of materials by the time we’re at the ground floor, and there’s really no easy solution. We’ve got to keep our budget.”
Banks further explained that the structure is achieved by sitting the heavy attic on the building site and then sort of “squishing everything else under it until it works.”
Those who own homes constructed by Turvy stay in contact with the company. During our tour of the facility, we came across a few employees on their way to answer a request put in by a homeowner.
“Yeah, we get calls about the houses,” reports maintenance worker Mitchell Clarke, “Sometimes the bottom starts to crack up or get crushed. We figure if we just slap some more wood up there on the attic, reinforce it, maybe add some gold trim, and that’ll fix the lower floors right up.”
Clarke was unable to provide information regarding the number of maintenance calls Turvy receives. He did report being pleased that working for Turvy has given him an opportunity to travel many times throughout the day, adding that he has a fondness for car rides.
“It’s not like the lower floors are meant to be permanent,” Clarke added as he donned a hardhat, “The lower floors are a temporary thing. You don’t stay on a lower floor, you move from a lower floor to the attic. Lower floors are just for teenagers and young adults starting out in life.”
Moving from the makers to the buyers, we contacted Mrs. Betty Watters, who resides in a Turvy home and was able to give us a glimpse of life on the inside.
“I absolutely love it,” she gushed, “mean, the first four floors are a little crushed, sometimes falling to about three feet in height, but this is only way to live!”
While Turvy’s reviews certainly appear to be top-notch, we can’t help but question the format. On our way out, we asked Mr. Banks why he divides up the construction materials in such an odd way, pointing out that splitting up fifty-two percent between four lower floors equates to each floor having roughly one-fourth of the amount of supplies as the attic has total.
“I know what you’re wondering,” Banks said with a small smile blooming on his face, “’Wouldn’t it better if we put more supplies toward the bottom and made the foundation stronger, since it holds up the top? Wouldn’t that help prevent maintenance issues?’ Well, that’s backwards thinking. You see, if we put so much work into the attic, some of that gold trim or those platinum drainpipes up there might fall down onto one of the lower floors. Putting more into the top helps the bottom.”
Prior to printing, we contacted Turvy Company Founder, Cole Murphy, to ask if this all was just some big, over-the-top metaphor about the powerful one percent in America in light of recent conversations about raising minimum wage.
“Uh, no,” Murphy replied, “That would be stupid. Obviously we need to pay people enough to live on. Everyone knows that. Sheesh.”
-Jackie Shreves, Senior Staff Member