Quonset huts are lightweight structures of galvanized iron and shaped like a semi circular tunnel, pre constructed for placement where they are needed. They are named after Quonset Point, at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville, Rhode Island, where they were first manufactured. They were developed in 1941 for use by the US Army as multi utility lightweight structures that could be set up anywhere with minimum effort. Quonset huts were developed for this purpose, being invented and patented by Cyril R. B. Harding specifically for this purpose.
The original Quonset huts had corrugated steel sheets for their sides. Their semi circular ends were wooded, as were their floors. The versatile structure of Quonset huts could be set up virtually anywhere. Their multi purpose structures found use as barracks, offices, ammunition dumps, housing, latrines, among many others. After the war, surplus Quonset huts were sold off by the army to the public.
Quonset huts, which had been created as an answer to an urgent necessity for the war efforts turned out to be a highly effective answer for the very pressing people of housing people in times of peace. Quonset huts were found to be an effective means of providing cheap housing on a mass scale. Quonset huts were easy enough to manufacture and transport, easier to set up everywhere. Quonset huts were in many ways the perfect kind of housing solution that people were looking for, because they were space efficient, efficient, economic, multi purpose, practical and could serve the problem of cheap and effective housing for potentially thousands of people. Since the war, many variations of the original or T Bone Quonset huts have come about adapting them to different purposes as required, such as the Redesign model which makes use of a different structure for the semi circular arch so that beds and furniture no longer have to be shifted away from the wall towards the interior, and the Stran Steel model which are made of lightweight steel and are far more spacious than the original, while being much lighter. There exist many other structures which make use of the basic design of the Quonset huts and differ only on minor counts, such as the size or construction material, proving the versatile nature of the design and functionality of the original.
Far from being just historical architectural antique pieces, Quonset huts have a huge potential for use even in modern times. Quonset huts had been designed to multi purpose structures that make maximum utilization of space, and this makes them an effective solution for providing cheap and effective housing. Quonset huts are sturdy and durable, and are fit in every way for this purpose. Quonset huts are more than something that eccentric individuals will choose as homes in remote outbacks, but something that can easily be mass produced for people for whom it is not a viable option to rent apartments in the cities. In the extreme space crunch experienced in and around cities in this day and age, Quonset huts could just be the unlooked for answer that people are neglecting.