Floating Staircase for Hurricane Sam

Oakland, California

This sculptural centerpiece for the live-work loft of Oakland-based jazz musician, "Hurricane" Sam Rudin, uses 5-foot cantilevered tread supports, a single tapered stringer, and a tapering handrail cut from a single piece of clear Douglas Fir.  The stairway is framed by 20-foot high triangular walls to achieve the dramatic effect desired by the client.

Elizabeth Navas Finley captured some of the key ideas behind this design: "The balustrade is another stretch of sculpted fir attached to the wall with thin metal bars so it too, seems to float in the daylight that pours down from overhead. The staircase becomes an artwork creating an interior view and pulling the eye away from the windowless walls into the brilliantly lit center of the room". (SF Chronicle July 27, 1994)

Year: 1993-1994
Client:  Sam Rudin