History of the Quonset Hut & Some Information About the Different Designs

Quonset Hut Production / Materials:

-shaped after the WWI British Nissen Hut (1916), similar materials

-Nissen Hut was one of the most extensively used mass-produced structures, idea of a prefabricated hut

-Americans mimicked this idea of mass-produced prefabrication of nomadic military huts

-Could be erected by a team of eight men in one single day

-Named after Quonset Point

-U.S. Navy wanted to develop and produce a new prefabricated hut system to shelter troops abroad designed for mass production and to be portable and easy to take down and erect

-Added to the NOy-2175 contract of Temporary Aviation Facilities, est. at $20.5 million

-Work started on March 30, 1941

-George A. Fuller and Company started designing and building a one-story factory building to produce the huts

-Otto Brandenberger (architect) led the team of designers, which was directed to use the British Nissen Hut as a starting point & two conditions : huts had to be arch-shaped (for strength and deflection of shell fragments) & be able to be quickly and simply assembled

-Laid the interior flange of the T-Rib arch and worked out to a corrugated metal exterior, corrugated metal strips joined and sealed one panel to the next

-Anderson Sheet Metal Company of Providence proposed a system to pass sheet metal through large rollers several times in order to bend the sheet metal so that the ribs were oriented parallel to the radius of the hut

-Final set of construction drawings done May 15, 1941

Variations of the Quonset Hut:

T-Rib Quonset Hut (Original) (16’ x 36’ & 16’ x 20’):

-steel arch frame was almost identical to the Nissen Hut’s, but the wall system was very different

-interior wallboards were made of Masonite

-exterior walls were corrugated metal panels lapped & mounted to wood purlins with a core layer of paper insulation

-could be shipped in 12 crates & assembled in a day by 8-10 men (3212 lbs.)

Quonset Redesign (16’ x 36’ & 24’ x 60’):

-realized valuable floor space was being wasted because washing machines, beds etc had to be moved inwards because they could not fit right up against the curve

-Brandenberger designed a modified arch (divided in 2 sections) that rested on four-foot vertical sidewalls

-fewer fasteners, faster assembly time

-35% lighter to ship and 60% cheaper to produce

Stran-Steel Quonset Hut (20’ x 48’ & 20’ x 56’):

-weighed less than original & took up less shipping space.

-floor made of ½ ‘ plywood

-lighter gauge galvanized siding, layout modified so that the factory-curved panel was only used along the ridgeline

-rest of hut was sided horizontally(so panels could be shipped flat)

Jamesway Hut (16’ x 32’ – extendable in 4’ lengths):

-wooden ribs and insulated fabric covering

-portable & easy to assemble, for arctic conditions

-package weighed 1200 lbs.

Portaseal Hut (16’-2” x 37’)

-Canadian version, walls with large windows

Pacific Hut (18’6” x 37’4”):

-all-wood construction

Emkay Hut (20’ x 48’):

Armco Hut (20’ x 50’):

-corrugated ingot iron bunkers, ammunition magazines & personnel shelters

-8- to 14- gauge metal

Butler Hut (16’ x 48’):

Cowin Hut (36’ x 60’):

-made to resist thrust from snow loads, but not adequate enough for Alaska

Utility Buildings / Elephant Hut (40’ x 100’ & 40’ x 50’):

-could be erected by 10 men in 300 working hours

-weighed 23381 lbs.

-shipped in 23 crates

-required 383.17 cubic ft of shipping space

Multiple Utility Building (82’ x 102’):

-extendable in 61’6” width increments and 100’ length increments

-design allowed for expansion in both directions

Source: Decker,Julie. Quonset Hut: Metal Living for a Modern Age. Chris Chiei. Princeton

- Kat Kovalcik