diff --git a/src/hdf5_reader.hpp b/src/hdf5_reader.hpp
index 6d1b73a4..d3ccfa89 100644
--- a/src/hdf5_reader.hpp
+++ b/src/hdf5_reader.hpp
@@ -28,12 +28,7 @@ class Hdf5PluginRead1DDefault: virtual public Hdf5PluginRead1DInterface<T>
   public:
     std::vector<T> readSelection(const HighFive::DataSet& dset,
                                  const Selection& selection) const override {
-        if (selection.ranges().empty()) {
-            return {};
-        }
-
-        return dset.select(detail::_makeHyperslab(selection.ranges()))
-            .template read<std::vector<T>>();
+        return detail::readCanonicalSelection<T>(dset, selection);
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/src/read_canonical_selection.hpp b/src/read_canonical_selection.hpp
index d9526e44..8d89e3fc 100644
--- a/src/read_canonical_selection.hpp
+++ b/src/read_canonical_selection.hpp
@@ -9,25 +9,26 @@ namespace bbp {
 namespace sonata {
 namespace detail {
 
-template <class Range>
-HighFive::HyperSlab make_hyperslab(const std::vector<Range>& ranges) {
-    HighFive::HyperSlab slab;
-    for (const auto& range : ranges) {
-        size_t i_begin = std::get<0>(range);
-        size_t i_end = std::get<1>(range);
-        slab |= HighFive::RegularHyperSlab({i_begin}, {i_end - i_begin});
-    }
-
-    return slab;
-}
-
 template <class T>
 std::vector<T> readCanonicalSelection(const HighFive::DataSet& dset, const Selection& selection) {
     if (selection.empty()) {
         return {};
     }
 
-    return dset.select(make_hyperslab(selection.ranges())).template read<std::vector<T>>();
+    constexpr size_t min_gap_size = SONATA_PAGESIZE / sizeof(T);
+    constexpr size_t max_aggregated_block_size = 1 * min_gap_size;
+
+    auto readBlock = [&](auto& buffer, const auto& range) {
+        size_t i_begin = std::get<0>(range);
+        size_t i_end = std::get<1>(range);
+        dset.select({i_begin}, {i_end - i_begin}).read(buffer);
+    };
+
+    return bulk_read::bulkRead<T>([&readBlock](auto& buffer,
+                                               const auto& range) { readBlock(buffer, range); },
+                                  selection.ranges(),
+                                  min_gap_size,
+                                  max_aggregated_block_size);
 }
 
 template <class T>