NW Green Home Tour 2025: Architect's Home + Guest House (DADU)

March 17, 2025

Enjoy a sneak peek into an Architect’s new home on Mercer Island. Perched uphill from her recently built 750 SF Guest House, Suzanne Zahr’s beautiful 3,300 SF family home is organized around a featured ‘spine wall’ running North-South, paying homage to an indigenous rammed earth building methodology. A split ridge roof with clerestory windows is seated above, allowing for natural light to travel through the main living areas from dawn to dusk. Thoughtful site orientation and efficient space planning enable passive solar design to maximize heat retention and minimize energy use, which ultimately offers a general sense of ambient well-being. Taking advantage of the sloped site, the stormwater gravity flows into an on-site detention tank, minimizing the impact to municipal stormwater drainage system that flows into Lake Washington.

Amer Zahr visits SZ Gallery — Photo by Flora Art Life

AMER ZAHR visits the SZ Gallery.

November 29, 2024

It was with great pleasure that we hosted Amer Zahr at SZ Gallery on October 11 for an intimate meet-and-greet, prior to his sold-out performance of “The Truth” at Town Hall Seattle. With the backdrop of Mahmoud Alhaj’s Control Anatomy exhibit at the SZ Gallery and select Posters for Gaza by various Palestinian Artists during his performance, SZ ensured Amer received a warm & artful welcome.

Amer is a Palestinian Arab American comedian, speaker, writer, academic, adjunct professor at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. He draws on his experiences growing up as a child of Palestinian refugees, performing and lecturing on topics like politics, society, culture, identity, Palestine, Islam and more.

In our recent elections, Amer is one of two Arab American candidates who secure seats on Dearborn Board of Education, making an Arab American majority for first time. Way to go, Amer!

For our friends in the DC Area, grab your tickets to Amer’s upcoming show, live at The Howard Theatre on Sunday, December 1st at 6PM.

ORIGIN Salon Spa.

September 2, 2024

Ana Judeh, owner of Origin Salon Spa, reached out to Suzanne Zahr to help envision the full potential of her new location. Located in the heart of Redmond, Washington, Origin proudly serves their thriving city and the communities around it since 2005. They pride themselves on bringing out the inner beauty in every guest who comes through their door. In the same spirit, SZ explored ways to manifest health and well-being throughout their built environment.

Stay tuned for progress updates!

In the interim, please enjoy this recent blog post by ORIGIN Salon Spa...

PERCH: Embracing the Woods.

March 27, 2024

An untouched 50’s rambler opens up to the sky and tree canopies, embracing the surrounding woods & lake views. Morning light floods in through the remodeled kitchen’s gable-end windows, as the views sweep around the corner. The dining room is perched at a diagonal, opening onto a wrap around deck, evoking treehouse vibes. The transformation of this home inspires a sense of retreat, while allowing for gatherings, big & small.