diff --git a/cura/Machines/ContainerNode.py b/cura/Machines/ContainerNode.py
index eef1c63127..7695296cbb 100644
--- a/cura/Machines/ContainerNode.py
+++ b/cura/Machines/ContainerNode.py
@@ -1,64 +1,71 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2018 Ultimaker B.V.
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Ultimaker B.V.
 # Cura is released under the terms of the LGPLv3 or higher.
 
-from typing import Optional, Any, Dict, Union, TYPE_CHECKING
-
-from collections import OrderedDict
+from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
 
 from UM.ConfigurationErrorMessage import ConfigurationErrorMessage
+from UM.Settings.ContainerRegistry import ContainerRegistry
 from UM.Logger import Logger
 from UM.Settings.InstanceContainer import InstanceContainer
+from UM.Decorators import deprecated
 
-
-##
-# A metadata / container combination. Use getContainer() to get the container corresponding to the metadata.
-#
-# ContainerNode is a multi-purpose class. It has two main purposes:
-#  1. It encapsulates an InstanceContainer. It contains that InstanceContainer's
-#          - metadata (Always)
-#          - container (lazy-loaded when needed)
-#  2. It also serves as a node in a hierarchical InstanceContainer lookup table/tree.
-#     This is used in Variant, Material, and Quality Managers.
+##  A node in the container tree. It represents one container.
 #
+#   The container it represents is referenced by its container_id. During normal
+#   use of the tree, this container is not constructed. Only when parts of the
+#   tree need to get loaded in the container stack should it get constructed.
 class ContainerNode:
-    __slots__ = ("_metadata", "_container", "children_map")
+    ##  Creates a new node for the container tree.
+    #   \param container_id The ID of the container that this node should
+    #   represent.
+    #   \param parent The parent container node, if any.
+    def __init__(self, container_id: str, parent: Optional["ContainerNode"]) -> None:
+        self.container_id = container_id
+        self.parent = parent
+        self._container = None  # type: Optional[InstanceContainer]
+        self.children_map = {}  # type: Dict[str, ContainerNode]  # Mapping from container ID to container node.
 
-    def __init__(self, metadata: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> None:
-        self._metadata = metadata
-        self._container = None # type: Optional[InstanceContainer]
-        self.children_map = OrderedDict()  # type: ignore  # This is because it's children are supposed to override it.
-
-    ##  Get an entry value from the metadata
+    ##  Get an entry from the metadata of the container that this node contains.
+    #   \param entry The metadata entry key to return.
+    #   \param default If the metadata is not present or the container is not
+    #   found, the value of this default is returned.
+    #   \return The value of the metadata entry, or the default if it was not
+    #   present.
+    @deprecated("Get the metadata from the container with the ID of this node yourself.", "4.3")
     def getMetaDataEntry(self, entry: str, default: Any = None) -> Any:
-        if self._metadata is None:
+        container_metadata = ContainerRegistry.getInstance().findContainersMetadata(id = self.container_id)
+        if len(container_metadata) == 0:
             return default
-        return self._metadata.get(entry, default)
+        return container_metadata[0].get(entry, default)
 
-    def getMetadata(self) -> Dict[str, Any]:
-        if self._metadata is None:
-            return {}
-        return self._metadata
+    ##  Get the child with the specified container ID.
+    #   \param child_id The container ID to get from among the children.
+    #   \return The child node, or ``None`` if no child is present with the
+    #   specified ID.
+    @deprecated("Iterate over the children instead of requesting them one by one.", "4.3")
+    def getChildNode(self, child_id: str) -> Optional["ContainerNode"]:
+        return self.children_map.get(child_id)
 
-    def getChildNode(self, child_key: str) -> Optional["ContainerNode"]:
-        return self.children_map.get(child_key)
+    @deprecated("Use `.container` instead.", "4.3")
+    def getContainer(self) -> Optional[InstanceContainer]:
+        return self.container
 
-    def getContainer(self) -> Optional["InstanceContainer"]:
-        if self._metadata is None:
-            Logger.log("e", "Cannot get container for a ContainerNode without metadata.")
-            return None
-
-        if self._container is None:
-            container_id = self._metadata["id"]
-            from UM.Settings.ContainerRegistry import ContainerRegistry
-            container_list = ContainerRegistry.getInstance().findInstanceContainers(id = container_id)
-            if not container_list:
-                Logger.log("e", "Failed to lazy-load container [{container_id}]. Cannot find it.".format(container_id = container_id))
+    ##  The container that this node's container ID refers to.
+    #
+    #   This can be used to finally instantiate the container in order to put it
+    #   in the container stack.
+    #   \return A container.
+    @property
+    def container(self) -> Optional[InstanceContainer]:
+        if not self._container:
+            container_list = ContainerRegistry.getInstance().findInstanceContainers(id = self.container_id)
+            if len(container_list) == 0:
+                Logger.log("e", "Failed to lazy-load container [{container_id}]. Cannot find it.".format(container_id = self.container_id))
                 error_message = ConfigurationErrorMessage.getInstance()
-                error_message.addFaultyContainers(container_id)
+                error_message.addFaultyContainers(self.container_id)
                 return None
             self._container = container_list[0]
-
         return self._container
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:
-        return "%s[%s]" % (self.__class__.__name__, self.getMetaDataEntry("id"))
+        return "%s[%s]" % (self.__class__.__name__, self.container_id)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cura/Machines/ContainerTree.py b/cura/Machines/ContainerTree.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..30c9b8f90d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cura/Machines/ContainerTree.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Ultimaker B.V.
+# Cura is released under the terms of the LGPLv3 or higher.
+
+from cura.Machines.MachineNode import MachineNode
+
+from typing import Dict
+
+##  This class contains a look-up tree for which containers are available at
+#   which stages of configuration.
+#
+#   The tree starts at the machine definitions. For every distinct definition
+#   there will be one machine node here.
+class ContainerTree:
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.machines = {}  # type: Dict[str, MachineNode] # Mapping from definition ID to machine nodes.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cura/Machines/IntentNode.py b/cura/Machines/IntentNode.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..590cf646e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cura/Machines/IntentNode.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Ultimaker B.V.
+# Cura is released under the terms of the LGPLv3 or higher.
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+from cura.Machines.ContainerNode import ContainerNode
+from cura.Machines.MaterialNode import MaterialNode
+from cura.Machines.QualityNode import QualityNode
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from typing import Dict
+
+##  This class represents an intent category in the container tree.
+#
+#   This class has no more subnodes.
+class IntentNode(ContainerNode):
+    def __init__(self, container_id: str, parent: QualityNode) -> None:
+        super().__init__(container_id, parent)
+        self.variants = {}  # type: Dict[str, MaterialNode] # mapping variant IDs to their nodes.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cura/Machines/MachineNode.py b/cura/Machines/MachineNode.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7daaf10bf5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cura/Machines/MachineNode.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Ultimaker B.V.
+# Cura is released under the terms of the LGPLv3 or higher.
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+from cura.Machines.ContainerNode import ContainerNode
+from cura.Machines.ContainerTree import ContainerTree
+from cura.Machines.VariantNode import VariantNode
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from typing import Dict
+
+##  This class represents a machine in the container tree.
+#
+#   The subnodes of these nodes are variants.
+class MachineNode(ContainerNode):
+    def __init__(self, container_id: str) -> None:
+        super().__init__(container_id, None)
+        self.variants = {}  # type: Dict[str, VariantNode] # mapping variant IDs to their nodes.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cura/Machines/MaterialNode.py b/cura/Machines/MaterialNode.py
index a4dcb0564f..2ac063c977 100644
--- a/cura/Machines/MaterialNode.py
+++ b/cura/Machines/MaterialNode.py
@@ -1,25 +1,19 @@
-# Copyright (c) 2018 Ultimaker B.V.
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Ultimaker B.V.
 # Cura is released under the terms of the LGPLv3 or higher.
-from typing import Optional, Dict, Any
-from collections import OrderedDict
-from .ContainerNode import ContainerNode
 
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
+from cura.Machines.ContainerNode import ContainerNode
+from cura.Machines.QualityNode import QualityNode
+from cura.Machines.VariantNode import VariantNode
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from typing import Dict
+
+##  Represents a material in the container tree.
 #
-# A MaterialNode is a node in the material lookup tree/map/table. It contains 2 (extra) fields:
-#  - material_map: a one-to-one map of "material_root_id" to material_node.
-#  - children_map: the key-value map for child nodes of this node. This is used in a lookup tree.
-#
-#
+#   Its subcontainers are quality profiles.
 class MaterialNode(ContainerNode):
-    __slots__ = ("material_map", "children_map")
-
-    def __init__(self, metadata: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None) -> None:
-        super().__init__(metadata = metadata)
-        self.material_map = {}  # type: Dict[str, MaterialNode] # material_root_id -> material_node
-
-        # We overide this as we want to indicate that MaterialNodes can only contain other material nodes.
-        self.children_map = OrderedDict()  # type: OrderedDict[str, "MaterialNode"]
-
-    def getChildNode(self, child_key: str) -> Optional["MaterialNode"]:
-        return self.children_map.get(child_key)
\ No newline at end of file
+    def __init__(self, container_id, parent: VariantNode) -> None:
+        super().__init__(container_id, parent)
+        self.qualities = {}  # type: Dict[str, QualityNode] # Mapping container IDs to quality profiles.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cura/Machines/VariantNode.py b/cura/Machines/VariantNode.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..93410f2a61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cura/Machines/VariantNode.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2019 Ultimaker B.V.
+# Cura is released under the terms of the LGPLv3 or higher.
+
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+from cura.Machines.ContainerNode import ContainerNode
+from cura.Machines.MachineNode import MachineNode
+from cura.Machines.MaterialNode import MaterialNode
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from typing import Dict
+
+##  This class represents an extruder variant in the container tree.
+#
+#   The subnodes of these nodes are materials.
+class VariantNode(ContainerNode):
+    def __init__(self, container_id: str, parent: MachineNode) -> None:
+        super().__init__(container_id, parent)
+        self.variants = {}  # type: Dict[str, MaterialNode] # mapping variant IDs to their nodes.
\ No newline at end of file