What Timber Homes Taught Me About Strength, Flexibility, and Innovation

When I first considered timber as the core material for modern homes, I faced skepticism from nearly every direction.

Arthur Bezuidenhout working with his team to construct one of Maxxliving's revolutionary homes

“Wood isn’t strong enough,” they said. “It’s old-fashioned. It burns. It bends.”

But the truth is: timber has taught me more about strength, innovation, and the art of building for the future than any other material I’ve worked with.

As someone who started my career in aerospace, I’m no stranger to cutting-edge engineering. In that world, every material is scrutinized for its strength-to-weight ratio, its durability, and how it performs under stress. Timber, in its modern engineered form, surprised me.

Today’s cross-laminated timber (CLT) and glulam beams are a far cry from the raw logs of the past. These products are engineered for precision and performance, making them stronger than steel in some applications while remaining lightweight and renewable. Timber’s natural ability to sequester carbon adds another layer of innovation—one that concrete and steel can’t match.

But strength isn’t the only lesson timber taught me. It taught me about flexibility, too. Unlike rigid materials that crack under pressure, timber moves and breathes with its environment. It adapts to temperature, moisture, and even the shifting of the earth beneath it. That’s a profound metaphor for leadership and innovation: real strength is the ability to flex without breaking.

At Maxxliving, we’re harnessing these qualities to design homes that are not only faster to build but also healthier to live in and gentler on the planet. A timber home feels alive—it regulates temperature and humidity, creating a more natural, comfortable living space.

This is where innovation thrives. We’ve combined nature’s wisdom with modern manufacturing techniques to create homes that are modular, scalable, and beautiful. It’s not about going back to basics, it’s about taking the best of the past and pushing it forward into a smarter, greener future.

Timber taught me this: when you rethink the familiar, you unlock extraordinary potential.

We’re not just building houses. We’re rethinking what housing can be for countries all around the world.