Quonset Hut: Production and Construction

The production of Quonsets was aided by a number of industry giants, including Carnegie-Illnois Steel Corporation, Bethlehem Steel Company, Masonite Corporation, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, and Libby Owen Ford, which supplied materials in the form of steel, insulation, masonite, and shatter-proof panes.¹ The demand for Quonsets was so large that it would have been impossible for Fuller to produce each component in house. Fuller, a contracting firm, has little experience in mass production. Eventually, the production of Quonsets were sub-contracted to Stran-Steel, a company which produced light-weight steel framing prior to World War II. After Stran-Steel’s proprietary steel beam system were adopted by Quonsets, Stran-Steel would shift its market entirely to the military.² Since the speed at which Quonsets can be manufactured is a measure of its effectiveness, the role of the American industry in its success must be emphasized. As the case of the Quonset shows, the Americans were able to turn its substantial industrial powers into a war machine. The hundreds of thousands of Quonset units could not have possibly been produced by a single company. However, Fuller, a construction company, was able to produce Quonsets in such incredible numbers because it was able to source components such as steel members, insulation, and special glass panes from a highly developed industry.

Notes

1. Julie Decker and Chris Chiei, Quonset Hut: Metal Living for a Modern Age (New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005) , 16.

2. Decker and Chiei, 19.