. . . famous for their wood-and-steel staircase that seemed to float in mid-air . . .
But what did this staircase look like?
Jobs found office space in Palo Alto, California, at 3475 Deer Creek Road,
occupying a glass-and-concrete building that featured a staircase designed by
the architect I. M. Pei. [0]
NeXT's expansion prompted renting an office at 800 and 900 Chesapeake Drive,
in Redwood City, also designed by Pei. The architectural centerpiece was a
"floating" staircase with no visible supports. [0]
One of their main features was the wood-and-steel staircase, which seemed to
float in mid-air, and came at a high cost of having elevators removed, upon
Steve's demand. The stairs would later inspire similar designs in the Apple
Retail Stores. Other striking features included a marble dining area and
$10,000 sofas. This lavish corporate environment was later understandably held
as evidence of what went wrong with NeXT. [1]
I had planned to shoot Steve with the incredible floating cement staircase
I.M. Pei designed for him in the lobby, a precursor to the clear glass version
that later became famous in the Apple stores. We begin setting up lights and
talking things over with Steve’s team. Finally Steve came storming in, hours
late due to traffic on his way down from Pixar, and in a terrible mood. He
took one look at my set up and announced, “This is just stupid. We are not
doing this.” [2]