Stonetown Zanzibar has been developing with new buildings coming up in the unbuilt plots, to replace old dilapidated buildings and also repairs to the old buildings. The new buildings have embraced the use of contemporary materials. A discussion on whether the traditional materials or the modern material are better for the climate of Zanzibar has been going on. This study was undertaken to establish which materials are best suited for Stonetown Zanzibar in terms of user thermal comfort and further give recommendations on the materials to be used for building in Stonetown Zanzibar.

Literature review confirms the changes in construction materials especially for the new constructions in Stonetown Zanzibar. Using case study strategy the author studies the urban morphology,street character and selected case study buildings in stonetown Zanzibar. For more clarity on the subject of thermal comfort, HOBO digital data loggers was used to record temperature and relative humidity of the case study buildings. From the comparative analysis the buildings that used traditional materials performed better, This evidence validates the use of traditional materials for building in stonetown Zanzibar in terms of user thermal comfort.

Concluding from that the author identified that the materials to be used in stonetown should be porous,bright to reflect heat and should also be poor conductors of heat.