About Us

Introducing Maaksel

Maaksel is a purpose-driven architecture firm based in Quincy, MA, founded by a husband-and-wife team. Maaksel draws inspiration from the Afrikaans word for workmanship and the biblical principle of Ephesians 2:10:

“For we are God’s handiwork (maaksel), created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do”.

Maaksel is committed to designing purposeful, durable, well-crafted, and resilient spaces. Our work reflects the belief that architecture is a calling to create good works that endure. We exist to serve families, organizations, and churches by offering tailored architectural solutions guided by our five core values: Purposeful Creation, Enduring Legacy, Craft, Family, and Resilience. We aim to support clients in building functional, beautiful, and resilient spaces for living, working, and worshipping.

Our services focus on:

• Family-centered homes, with a unique focus on multi-generational living, homeschooling areas, and workshop/maker spaces.
• Church and religious architecture, in particular, childcare and fellowship spaces.
• Preparedness and resilience projects incorporating features varying from everyday redundancies to dedicated safe spaces to reduce risks and mitigate threats.

Maaksel promotes our professional architectural services at maaksel.com while providing popular and complementary preparedness resources at maakselprep.com.

Vision & Mission

Our mission is to be a design firm that address the needs of an often overlooked community by being a unique, purposeful practice. We envision a practice where architecture transcends mere design to become a purposeful act of creation, rooted in the good works we are called to do (Ephesians 2:10). We strive to design spaces that embody durability, resilience, and craftsmanship, nurturing families and communities for generations. Our vision is to craft a durable legacy—buildings that stand as testaments to quality and preparedness, contrasting with the disposable nature of modern society.

Core Values

Five core values shape our work and guide everything we do:

• Purposeful Creation: As God’s handiwork, we believe we are called to create with intention and purpose. Each project represents an opportunity to fulfill our calling by designing spaces that serve meaningful purposes in the lives of our clients, their families, churches, and communities. We approach architecture as a vocation rather than merely a profession, seeking to honor God through excellence in design and service.

• Enduring Legacy: We reject consumerism’s disposable design mentality prevalent in today’s consumer culture and instead embrace architectural solutions built to last generations. Every project is conceived with longevity in mind, utilizing timeless design principles and quality materials that will stand as legacies for future generations. We believe that well-designed, durable spaces honor our clients’ investments, the resources entrusted to us, and our future heirs.

• Craft: We honor the tradition of skilled craftsmanship in our designs and their execution. We value the human touch in architecture and seek to create spaces that showcase and preserve traditional skills while incorporating appropriate modern techniques. Our designs include dedicated makers’ spaces that encourage the next generation to develop hands-on skills, fostering a culture that values creation over consumption and supporting education and training at home.

• Family: We believe strong families build thriving communities. Our designs support multi-generational living, home education, and intentional family interactions and traditions. We create spaces where families can grow, learn, worship, and thrive together across generations. By prioritizing family needs in our architectural solutions, we help strengthen society’s fundamental building blocks.

• Resilience: We design for a changing world and uncertain future by incorporating preparedness principles that protect inhabitants from natural and man-made challenges. From subtle everyday redundancies to dedicated safe spaces, our architecture provides peace of mind through thoughtful resilience planning. We believe responsible architecture anticipates and mitigates potential threats while creating beautiful, functional spaces for everyday living..

Meet the Founder