The last century has seen widespread use of identical components, elements and generally materials. Concrete, glass, wood, metal sheeting, are some of the materials now employed generically all around the world in a trend that is pinned on Globalisation. In Phidias’ Athens, stone was used to build temples, at the same time, stone was being used to build the Great Wall of Qi in China; however, these materials were laboured in very different ways. The material approach to the project seeks to contextualize and explore the use of generic or commonly used construction materials in Maputo by employing existing practices, knowledge and generating new approaches. This approach is taken to determine not only the choice of predominant materials, timber and concrete but also their sourcing and wider implications within the territorial and regional networks of trade, governing supplies, and labour.