Quonset Huts
Hundreds of thousands of Quonset huts were manufactured during World War II. The Navy spurred the production of so many Quonset huts, because they needed portable sturdy buildings that could be put in place without construction crews. Quonset huts are prefabricated semi circular structures that were modeled after similar structures created by the British in WWI. The hut is named after Quonset Point, where it was first created in Rhode Island. Quonset huts had the advantage of a lot of open space inside, due to the galvanized iron cross section design. The flexibility and simplicity of the huts allowed the military to have immediate solid structures for medical facilities, vehicle repair shops, barracks and storage. They offered a step up from the combination of tents and wooden platforms that were previously used for such purposes. After the war, the Quonset huts were sold to the public and started being seen across the country for various civilian uses. Since then, Quonset huts not produced by the military have been manufactured and utilized for a plethora of commercial and residential uses.
Quonset huts provided the foundation for the modern prefabricated steel building of today. One of the big problems with the semi circular design on Quonset huts, was that it was difficult to place square items flush to the wall on the floor. The structure was later altered to have walls at 90 degree angles, which eliminated the wasted space of the original curved wall design. The design change actually allowed the structures to break down even smaller and made it lighter to ship. And the curved arc frame introduced by the advent of Quonset huts is still used by a lot of the current portable steel building manufacturers.
The same portability and ease of construction concept that made Quonset huts so invaluable to the U.S. military is why steel buildings are such an attractive option for residential and commercial uses today. Like Quonset huts, the current metal buildings are super easy to put together and do not require special tools or knowledge. Both businesses and home owners use metal structures for any number of uses. They are gymnasiums, body shops, churches and garages. They are more economical than traditional buildings and require little maintenance. The Quonset huts live on.