diff --git a/include/sirit/sirit.h b/include/sirit/sirit.h
index fadf0a9..ccc06e4 100644
--- a/include/sirit/sirit.h
+++ b/include/sirit/sirit.h
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public:
      * externally.
      * @return A stream of bytes representing a SPIR-V module.
      */
-    std::vector<std::uint8_t> Assemble() const;
+    std::vector<std::uint32_t> Assemble() const;
 
     /// Adds a SPIR-V extension.
     void AddExtension(std::string extension_name);
diff --git a/src/literal_string.cpp b/src/literal_string.cpp
index e7f85e6..7a820d3 100644
--- a/src/literal_string.cpp
+++ b/src/literal_string.cpp
@@ -17,12 +17,7 @@ LiteralString::LiteralString(std::string string) : string{std::move(string)} {
 LiteralString::~LiteralString() = default;
 
 void LiteralString::Fetch(Stream& stream) const {
-    for (std::size_t i = 0; i < string.size(); i++) {
-        stream.Write(static_cast<u8>(string[i]));
-    }
-    for (std::size_t i = 0; i < 4 - (string.size() % 4); i++) {
-        stream.Write(static_cast<u8>(0));
-    }
+    stream.Write(string);
 }
 
 u16 LiteralString::GetWordCount() const {
diff --git a/src/op.cpp b/src/op.cpp
index 83895ae..974f0c3 100644
--- a/src/op.cpp
+++ b/src/op.cpp
@@ -49,8 +49,7 @@ bool Op::operator==(const Operand& other) const {
 }
 
 void Op::Write(Stream& stream) const {
-    stream.Write(static_cast<u16>(opcode));
-    stream.Write(WordCount());
+    stream.Write(static_cast<u16>(opcode), WordCount());
 
     if (result_type) {
         result_type->Fetch(stream);
diff --git a/src/sirit.cpp b/src/sirit.cpp
index c88111c..6e28bdf 100644
--- a/src/sirit.cpp
+++ b/src/sirit.cpp
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ Module::Module(u32 version) : version(version) {}
 
 Module::~Module() = default;
 
-std::vector<u8> Module::Assemble() const {
-    std::vector<u8> bytes;
+std::vector<u32> Module::Assemble() const {
+    std::vector<u32> bytes;
     Stream stream{bytes};
 
     stream.Write(spv::MagicNumber);
diff --git a/src/stream.cpp b/src/stream.cpp
index bde6534..2282364 100644
--- a/src/stream.cpp
+++ b/src/stream.cpp
@@ -8,36 +8,42 @@
 
 namespace Sirit {
 
-Stream::Stream(std::vector<u8>& bytes) : bytes(bytes) {}
+Stream::Stream(std::vector<u32>& words) : words(words) {}
 
 Stream::~Stream() = default;
 
 void Stream::Write(std::string_view string) {
-    bytes.insert(bytes.end(), string.begin(), string.end());
+    constexpr std::size_t word_size = 4;
+    const auto size = string.size();
+    auto read = [string, size](std::size_t offset) { return offset < size ? string[offset] : 0; };
 
-    const auto size{string.size()};
-    for (std::size_t i = 0; i < 4 - size % 4; i++) {
-        Write(static_cast<u8>(0));
+    words.reserve(words.size() + size / word_size + 1);
+    for (std::size_t i = 0; i < size; i += word_size) {
+        Write(read(i), read(i + 1), read(i + 2), read(i + 3));
+    }
+    if (size % word_size == 0) {
+        Write(u32(0));
     }
 }
 
 void Stream::Write(u64 value) {
-    const auto* const mem = reinterpret_cast<const u8*>(&value);
-    bytes.insert(bytes.end(), mem, mem + sizeof(u64));
+    const u32 dword[] = {static_cast<u32>(value), static_cast<u32>(value >> 32)};
+    words.insert(std::begin(words), std::cbegin(dword), std::cend(dword));
 }
 
 void Stream::Write(u32 value) {
-    const auto* const mem = reinterpret_cast<const u8*>(&value);
-    bytes.insert(bytes.end(), mem, mem + sizeof(u32));
+    words.push_back(value);
 }
 
-void Stream::Write(u16 value) {
-    const auto* const mem{reinterpret_cast<const u8*>(&value)};
-    bytes.insert(bytes.end(), mem, mem + sizeof(u16));
+void Stream::Write(u16 first, u16 second) {
+    const u32 word = static_cast<u32>(first) | static_cast<u32>(second) << 16;
+    Write(word);
 }
 
-void Stream::Write(u8 value) {
-    bytes.push_back(value);
+void Stream::Write(u8 first, u8 second, u8 third, u8 fourth) {
+    const u32 word = static_cast<u32>(first) | static_cast<u32>(second) << 8 |
+                     static_cast<u32>(third) << 16 | static_cast<u32>(fourth) << 24;
+    Write(word);
 }
 
 } // namespace Sirit
diff --git a/src/stream.h b/src/stream.h
index bb6c293..b7ec872 100644
--- a/src/stream.h
+++ b/src/stream.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ namespace Sirit {
 
 class Stream {
 public:
-    explicit Stream(std::vector<u8>& bytes);
+    explicit Stream(std::vector<u32>& words);
     ~Stream();
 
     void Write(std::string_view string);
@@ -23,12 +23,12 @@ public:
 
     void Write(u32 value);
 
-    void Write(u16 value);
+    void Write(u16 first, u16 second);
 
-    void Write(u8 value);
+    void Write(u8 first, u8 second, u8 third, u8 fourth);
 
 private:
-    std::vector<u8>& bytes;
+    std::vector<u32>& words;
 };
 
 } // namespace Sirit
diff --git a/tests/main.cpp b/tests/main.cpp
index bff8359..e004e59 100644
--- a/tests/main.cpp
+++ b/tests/main.cpp
@@ -79,10 +79,10 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
     MyModule module;
     module.Generate();
 
-    std::vector<std::uint8_t> code{module.Assemble()};
+    std::vector<std::uint32_t> code{module.Assemble()};
 
     FILE* file = fopen("sirit.spv", "wb");
-    fwrite(code.data(), 1, code.size(), file);
+    fwrite(code.data(), sizeof(std::uint32_t), code.size(), file);
     fclose(file);
 
     return 0;