What Are Quonset Huts?
Friday, December 25th, 2009Throughout WWII, almost 200,000 Quonset huts were produced in the United States. The Quonset huts offered the U.S. military a quick and easily erected option that could be shipped and utilized anywhere. 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. The metal structures were definitely an improvement over the wooden foundation tent structures that had served those functions. The Quonset huts produced during the war were sold to the general populations for about $1000 each after the war. Since then, Quonset huts not produced by the military have been manufactured and utilized for a plethora of commercial and residential uses.
The metal buildings you see today had their beginnings in the design of Quonset huts. Because the arch design of Quonset huts meant that the walls were curved where they met the floor, it was difficult to place furniture and machinery against the walls. 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 many metal building makers today still utilize the arched construction of the original Quonset huts.
How easy it was for unqualified people to put the structures together and the fact that the Quonset huts could be packed up and shipped easily are the qualities that make the metal buildings of today so advantageous for consumers. Steel buildings, much like Quonset huts, can be assembled with a handful of people without special equipment. Steel buildings are used for a wide variety of commercial and residential purposes. They are gymnasiums, body shops, churches and garages. They are more economical than traditional buildings and require little maintenance. The Quonset huts live on.

