The properties of hydrogels are defined not only by their chemical composition, but also the spatial organization of their components. Applications that require a higher level of complexity will require a high degree of control from nano to macro levels. Most hydrogels are obtained from unstructured macromolecules or through aggregation of unfolded proteins. Another approach consists of building hydrogels from folded globular proteins in order to harness the intrinsic, specific mechanical properties. Single molecule force spectroscopy allows precise characterization of the mechanical properties of proteins, which allows for careful selection of mechanically robust proteins. This allows for a selective design of nanoscopic and bulk properties of novel hydrogels, based on the behaviour of the chosen block unit, where we can control the mechanical properties at local and at macro level.