Quonset Huts

Posted 07/10/09

A Quonset hut is light in weight and it is made up of the prefabricated structure. The prefabricated material is made up of corrugated galvanized iron. Quonset huts are designed like the Nissen huts.

Nissen huts were developed by British during the First World War. First Quonset hut was manufactured at Quonset point therefore, these huts are named so. Quonset Point is located in a village in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The need of Quonset hut was felt when in 1941 United States Navy demanded a lightweight building which could be designed without any skilled labor or which can be shipped very easily. The contract was given to the George A. Fuller, a construction company. The first Quonset hut was manufactured after the 60 days of contract.

Quonset hut is a very simple building and the first Quonset hut was a 16 by 36 ft or 5 by 11 m structure. The original Quonset hut was manufactured with the steel members with an 8 ft or about 2.4 m radius. For making Quonset hut stronger the ridged steel sheets were used. The two ends of the Quonset huts were made up of plywood in which doors and windows were made. The interior of Quonset hut was kept isolated to stop rain. In addition, the interior of the house had pressed wood lining and a wood floor. The old Quonset hut could be placed on wooden flood, concrete or pilings floors.

With time Quonset huts became popular among the public as well. The Quonset hut designed today usually has a standard size of 20 by 48 ft or 6 by 15 m with 10 ft or 3 m radius.

The size of the floor space is about 720 square feet or 67 m². In all of the entrances there are optional four foot overhands. This shows that these houses are very comfortable and protective from weather conditions. Because of the different requirements of the people, Quonset hut is also available with 20 by 40 ft or 6 by 12 m and 40 by 100 ft or 12 by 30 m.

Because of the flexible interiors these houses are in demand. The interior space is open and it can be also used as barracks, latrines, housing, bakeries, medical or offices. The popularity of Quonset hut increased during the Second World War and near about 150,000 to 170,000 Quonset huts were manufactured during the war. At the end of the war the United States military sold the huts to the public for $1000 each. Some Quonset huts are still used for commercial buildings in United States. Hence, we can say that Quonset Huts are very simple but useful houses because they can be used for various purposes like from commercial use to residential use.

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