diff --git a/crates/polars-arrow/Cargo.toml b/crates/polars-arrow/Cargo.toml
index 0cd85cbae4837..24a979d9b4f24 100644
--- a/crates/polars-arrow/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/polars-arrow/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ description = "Minimal implementation of the Arrow specification forked from arr
 
 [dependencies]
 atoi = { workspace = true, optional = true }
-bytemuck = { workspace = true }
+bytemuck = { workspace = true, features = [ "must_cast" ] }
 chrono = { workspace = true }
 # for timezone support
 chrono-tz = { workspace = true, optional = true }
diff --git a/crates/polars-arrow/src/array/binview/view.rs b/crates/polars-arrow/src/array/binview/view.rs
index 67334a53aa177..15a744f804e9e 100644
--- a/crates/polars-arrow/src/array/binview/view.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-arrow/src/array/binview/view.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use polars_utils::total_ord::{TotalEq, TotalOrd};
 
 use crate::buffer::Buffer;
 use crate::datatypes::PrimitiveType;
-use crate::types::NativeType;
+use crate::types::{Bytes16Alignment4, NativeType};
 
 // We use this instead of u128 because we want alignment of <= 8 bytes.
 /// A reference to a set of bytes.
@@ -346,7 +346,9 @@ impl MinMax for View {
 
 impl NativeType for View {
     const PRIMITIVE: PrimitiveType = PrimitiveType::UInt128;
+
     type Bytes = [u8; 16];
+    type AlignedBytes = Bytes16Alignment4;
 
     #[inline]
     fn to_le_bytes(&self) -> Self::Bytes {
diff --git a/crates/polars-arrow/src/buffer/immutable.rs b/crates/polars-arrow/src/buffer/immutable.rs
index 1dfe805ffc577..dcb862466a8e8 100644
--- a/crates/polars-arrow/src/buffer/immutable.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-arrow/src/buffer/immutable.rs
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ impl<T> Buffer<T> {
     }
 
     /// Auxiliary method to create a new Buffer
-    pub(crate) fn from_storage(storage: SharedStorage<T>) -> Self {
+    pub fn from_storage(storage: SharedStorage<T>) -> Self {
         let ptr = storage.as_ptr();
         let length = storage.len();
         Buffer {
diff --git a/crates/polars-arrow/src/storage.rs b/crates/polars-arrow/src/storage.rs
index 7cab3235b25ab..b7f8338cd06a2 100644
--- a/crates/polars-arrow/src/storage.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-arrow/src/storage.rs
@@ -4,11 +4,27 @@ use std::ops::Deref;
 use std::ptr::NonNull;
 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicU64, Ordering};
 
+use bytemuck::Pod;
+
 use crate::ffi::InternalArrowArray;
+use crate::types::{
+    AlignedBytes, Bytes12Alignment4, Bytes16Alignment16, Bytes16Alignment4, Bytes16Alignment8,
+    Bytes1Alignment1, Bytes2Alignment2, Bytes32Alignment16, Bytes4Alignment4, Bytes8Alignment4,
+    Bytes8Alignment8, NativeSizeAlignment,
+};
 
 enum BackingStorage {
     Vec {
         capacity: usize,
+
+        /// Size and alignment of the original vector type.
+        ///
+        /// We have the following invariants:
+        /// - if this is Some(...) then all alignments involved are a power of 2
+        /// - align_of(Original) >= align_of(Current)
+        /// - size_of(Original) >= size_of(Current)
+        /// - size_of(Original) % size_of(Current) == 0
+        original_element_size_alignment: Option<NativeSizeAlignment>,
     },
     InternalArrowArray(InternalArrowArray),
     #[cfg(feature = "arrow_rs")]
@@ -30,8 +46,53 @@ impl<T> Drop for SharedStorageInner<T> {
             Some(BackingStorage::InternalArrowArray(a)) => drop(a),
             #[cfg(feature = "arrow_rs")]
             Some(BackingStorage::ArrowBuffer(b)) => drop(b),
-            Some(BackingStorage::Vec { capacity }) => unsafe {
-                drop(Vec::from_raw_parts(self.ptr, self.length, capacity))
+            Some(BackingStorage::Vec {
+                capacity,
+                original_element_size_alignment,
+            }) => {
+                #[inline]
+                unsafe fn drop_vec<T, O>(ptr: *mut T, length: usize, capacity: usize) {
+                    let ptr = ptr.cast::<O>();
+                    debug_assert!(ptr.is_aligned());
+
+                    debug_assert!(size_of::<O>() >= size_of::<T>());
+                    debug_assert_eq!(size_of::<O>() % size_of::<T>(), 0);
+
+                    let scale_factor = size_of::<O>() / size_of::<T>();
+
+                    // If the original element had a different size_of we need to rescale the
+                    // length and capacity here.
+                    let length = length / scale_factor;
+                    let capacity = capacity / scale_factor;
+
+                    // SAFETY:
+                    // - The BackingStorage holds an invariants that make this safe
+                    drop(unsafe { Vec::from_raw_parts(ptr, length, capacity) });
+                }
+
+                let ptr = self.ptr;
+                let length = self.length;
+
+                let Some(size_alignment) = original_element_size_alignment else {
+                    unsafe { drop_vec::<T, T>(ptr, length, capacity) };
+                    return;
+                };
+
+                use NativeSizeAlignment as SA;
+                unsafe {
+                    match size_alignment {
+                        SA::S1A1 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes1Alignment1>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                        SA::S2A2 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes2Alignment2>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                        SA::S4A4 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes4Alignment4>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                        SA::S8A4 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes8Alignment4>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                        SA::S8A8 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes8Alignment8>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                        SA::S12A4 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes12Alignment4>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                        SA::S16A4 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes16Alignment4>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                        SA::S16A8 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes16Alignment8>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                        SA::S16A16 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes16Alignment16>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                        SA::S32A16 => drop_vec::<T, Bytes32Alignment16>(ptr, length, capacity),
+                    }
+                }
             },
             None => {},
         }
@@ -72,7 +133,10 @@ impl<T> SharedStorage<T> {
             ref_count: AtomicU64::new(1),
             ptr,
             length,
-            backing: Some(BackingStorage::Vec { capacity }),
+            backing: Some(BackingStorage::Vec {
+                capacity,
+                original_element_size_alignment: None,
+            }),
             phantom: PhantomData,
         };
         Self {
@@ -161,7 +225,11 @@ impl<T> SharedStorage<T> {
     }
 
     pub fn try_into_vec(mut self) -> Result<Vec<T>, Self> {
-        let Some(BackingStorage::Vec { capacity }) = self.inner().backing else {
+        let Some(BackingStorage::Vec {
+            capacity,
+            original_element_size_alignment: None,
+        }) = self.inner().backing
+        else {
             return Err(self);
         };
         if self.is_exclusive() {
@@ -186,6 +254,55 @@ impl<T> SharedStorage<T> {
     }
 }
 
+impl<T: Pod> SharedStorage<T> {
+    /// Create a [`SharedStorage`] from a [`Vec`] of [`AlignedBytes`].
+    ///
+    /// This will fail if the size and alignment requirements of `T` are stricter than `B`.
+    pub fn from_aligned_bytes_vec<B: AlignedBytes>(mut v: Vec<B>) -> Option<Self> {
+        if align_of::<B>() < align_of::<T>() {
+            return None;
+        }
+
+        // @NOTE: This is not a fundamental limitation, but something we impose for now. This makes
+        // calculating the capacity a lot easier.
+        if size_of::<B>() < size_of::<T>() || size_of::<B>() % size_of::<T>() != 0 {
+            return None;
+        }
+
+        let scale_factor = size_of::<B>() / size_of::<T>();
+
+        let length = v.len() * scale_factor;
+        let capacity = v.capacity() * scale_factor;
+        let ptr = v.as_mut_ptr().cast::<T>();
+        core::mem::forget(v);
+
+        let inner = SharedStorageInner {
+            ref_count: AtomicU64::new(1),
+            ptr,
+            length,
+            backing: Some(BackingStorage::Vec {
+                capacity,
+                original_element_size_alignment: Some(B::SIZE_ALIGNMENT_PAIR),
+            }),
+            phantom: PhantomData,
+        };
+
+        Some(Self {
+            inner: NonNull::new(Box::into_raw(Box::new(inner))).unwrap(),
+            phantom: PhantomData,
+        })
+    }
+}
+
+impl SharedStorage<u8> {
+    /// Create a [`SharedStorage<u8>`][SharedStorage] from a [`Vec`] of [`AlignedBytes`].
+    ///
+    /// This will never fail since `u8` has unit size and alignment.
+    pub fn bytes_from_aligned_bytes_vec<B: AlignedBytes>(v: Vec<B>) -> Self {
+        Self::from_aligned_bytes_vec(v).unwrap()
+    }
+}
+
 impl<T> Deref for SharedStorage<T> {
     type Target = [T];
 
diff --git a/crates/polars-arrow/src/types/mod.rs b/crates/polars-arrow/src/types/mod.rs
index 49b4d315408ec..c6f653a32311e 100644
--- a/crates/polars-arrow/src/types/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-arrow/src/types/mod.rs
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 //! Finally, this module contains traits used to compile code based on [`NativeType`] optimized
 //! for SIMD, at [`mod@simd`].
 
+mod aligned_bytes;
+pub use aligned_bytes::*;
 mod bit_chunk;
 pub use bit_chunk::{BitChunk, BitChunkIter, BitChunkOnes};
 mod index;
diff --git a/crates/polars-arrow/src/types/native.rs b/crates/polars-arrow/src/types/native.rs
index 230fdde387d1f..9cf9a6b56c466 100644
--- a/crates/polars-arrow/src/types/native.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-arrow/src/types/native.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ use polars_utils::min_max::MinMax;
 use polars_utils::nulls::IsNull;
 use polars_utils::total_ord::{ToTotalOrd, TotalEq, TotalHash, TotalOrd, TotalOrdWrap};
 
+use super::aligned_bytes::*;
 use super::PrimitiveType;
 
 /// Sealed trait implemented by all physical types that can be allocated,
@@ -27,6 +28,7 @@ pub trait NativeType:
     + TotalOrd
     + IsNull
     + MinMax
+    + AlignedBytesCast<Self::AlignedBytes>
 {
     /// The corresponding variant of [`PrimitiveType`].
     const PRIMITIVE: PrimitiveType;
@@ -42,6 +44,11 @@ pub trait NativeType:
         + Default
         + IntoIterator<Item = u8>;
 
+    /// Type denoting its representation as aligned bytes.
+    ///
+    /// This is `[u8; N]` where `N = size_of::<Self>` and has alignment `align_of::<Self>`.
+    type AlignedBytes: AlignedBytes<Unaligned = Self::Bytes> + From<Self> + Into<Self>;
+
     /// To bytes in little endian
     fn to_le_bytes(&self) -> Self::Bytes;
 
@@ -56,11 +63,13 @@ pub trait NativeType:
 }
 
 macro_rules! native_type {
-    ($type:ty, $primitive_type:expr) => {
+    ($type:ty, $aligned:ty, $primitive_type:expr) => {
         impl NativeType for $type {
             const PRIMITIVE: PrimitiveType = $primitive_type;
 
             type Bytes = [u8; std::mem::size_of::<Self>()];
+            type AlignedBytes = $aligned;
+
             #[inline]
             fn to_le_bytes(&self) -> Self::Bytes {
                 Self::to_le_bytes(*self)
@@ -84,18 +93,18 @@ macro_rules! native_type {
     };
 }
 
-native_type!(u8, PrimitiveType::UInt8);
-native_type!(u16, PrimitiveType::UInt16);
-native_type!(u32, PrimitiveType::UInt32);
-native_type!(u64, PrimitiveType::UInt64);
-native_type!(i8, PrimitiveType::Int8);
-native_type!(i16, PrimitiveType::Int16);
-native_type!(i32, PrimitiveType::Int32);
-native_type!(i64, PrimitiveType::Int64);
-native_type!(f32, PrimitiveType::Float32);
-native_type!(f64, PrimitiveType::Float64);
-native_type!(i128, PrimitiveType::Int128);
-native_type!(u128, PrimitiveType::UInt128);
+native_type!(u8, Bytes1Alignment1, PrimitiveType::UInt8);
+native_type!(u16, Bytes2Alignment2, PrimitiveType::UInt16);
+native_type!(u32, Bytes4Alignment4, PrimitiveType::UInt32);
+native_type!(u64, Bytes8Alignment8, PrimitiveType::UInt64);
+native_type!(i8, Bytes1Alignment1, PrimitiveType::Int8);
+native_type!(i16, Bytes2Alignment2, PrimitiveType::Int16);
+native_type!(i32, Bytes4Alignment4, PrimitiveType::Int32);
+native_type!(i64, Bytes8Alignment8, PrimitiveType::Int64);
+native_type!(f32, Bytes4Alignment4, PrimitiveType::Float32);
+native_type!(f64, Bytes8Alignment8, PrimitiveType::Float64);
+native_type!(i128, Bytes16Alignment16, PrimitiveType::Int128);
+native_type!(u128, Bytes16Alignment16, PrimitiveType::UInt128);
 
 /// The in-memory representation of the DayMillisecond variant of arrow's "Interval" logical type.
 #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, Default, PartialEq, Eq, PartialOrd, Ord, Hash, Zeroable, Pod)]
@@ -151,7 +160,10 @@ impl MinMax for days_ms {
 
 impl NativeType for days_ms {
     const PRIMITIVE: PrimitiveType = PrimitiveType::DaysMs;
+
     type Bytes = [u8; 8];
+    type AlignedBytes = Bytes8Alignment4;
+
     #[inline]
     fn to_le_bytes(&self) -> Self::Bytes {
         let days = self.0.to_le_bytes();
@@ -289,7 +301,10 @@ impl MinMax for months_days_ns {
 
 impl NativeType for months_days_ns {
     const PRIMITIVE: PrimitiveType = PrimitiveType::MonthDayNano;
+
     type Bytes = [u8; 16];
+    type AlignedBytes = Bytes16Alignment8;
+
     #[inline]
     fn to_le_bytes(&self) -> Self::Bytes {
         let months = self.months().to_le_bytes();
@@ -658,7 +673,10 @@ impl MinMax for f16 {
 
 impl NativeType for f16 {
     const PRIMITIVE: PrimitiveType = PrimitiveType::Float16;
+
     type Bytes = [u8; 2];
+    type AlignedBytes = Bytes2Alignment2;
+
     #[inline]
     fn to_le_bytes(&self) -> Self::Bytes {
         self.0.to_le_bytes()
@@ -758,6 +776,7 @@ impl NativeType for i256 {
     const PRIMITIVE: PrimitiveType = PrimitiveType::Int256;
 
     type Bytes = [u8; 32];
+    type AlignedBytes = Bytes32Alignment16;
 
     #[inline]
     fn to_le_bytes(&self) -> Self::Bytes {