A new aqueous sol–gel process has been developed that makes it possible to produce a transparent organic–inorganic hybrid material with desirable mechanical properties for several applications. During the process an aqueous precursor is prepared by adding water into a mixture of an epoxy organofunctional silane with an aluminium alkoxide. The alkoxide is then hydrolyzed and the resultant hydrate is peptized to a clear transparent solution. This process is different from the previously reported Yoldas process (B. E. Yoldas, Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull., 1975, 54, 286; 289; J. Mater. Sci., 1975, 10, 1856), which involves the addition of acid to peptize the aluminium hydrate to boehmite nanoparticles. TEM studies have shown that a molecular precursor is formed. Another interesting feature of this process is that a large amount of water is used as the solvent. This is opposite to the conventional wisdom that the water should be strictly controlled in systems similar to those reported here. Monolith and coating hybrid materials can be easily made from the synthesized precursor solutions. They showed good mechanical properties when cured at temperatures as low as 80 °C.