Quonset Hut Basics
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by: fredthompson
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Quonset huts, those ubiqutous arched metal storage buildings that you can still find in use today, were named for the town of Quonset, Rhode Island, the location of the U.S. Naval facility where the huts were constructed during World War II. Using the semicylindrical British Nissen hut as a model, Quonset hut creators modified the Nissen design with wooden lining, insulation, and tongue and grove wooden flooring. A commemorative Quonset huts display located at the Seabee Museum and Memorial Park in Davisville, Rhode Island honors both the original Quonset huts factory in Davisville and the historic connection between Quonset huts and the Seabees.
The genius of Quonset huts rests with their durability and mobility in the battlefield. The military needed a structure that could be easily and quickly assembled and disassembled for transport to different battlefield locations, sometimes on a daily basis. Quonset huts made ideal mobile and lightweight housing and storage structures and gradually evolved to accommodate uses as bakeries, showers, latrines, dental offices, and isolation wards. However, the initial Quonset huts design presented problems with its expanded uses and was subsequently recast from a sixteen feet by thirty six feet sized building with wall curve beginning flush with the floor to a structure with sidewalls and multiple interior designs. After the war ended, the military sold its surplus Quonset huts to the public for one thousand dollars per unit. They proved so attractive that universities purchased some for student housing and returning soldiers purchased some of the huts for their personal housing.
Modern day Quonset huts are versatile and perfect for machinery and grain storage, backyard workshops, and even airplane hangars. How about turning a Quonset hut into a guest cottage. With no trusses and beams to get in the way, Quonset huts give you 100 percent useable space and can be expanded to any length just by adding sidewall panels. They can also be customized with features such as skylights, insulation, wiring, and colors to match your home decor. With their corrugated steel construction, Quonset huts are amazingly strong; in fact, their rounded arch design is one of the strongest structures in architecture. Quonset huts can withstand anything Mother Nature can throw at them.
Calling on a few friends to help, you can have your Quonset hut kit assembled in just a few days. Once you have laid your foundation (on a graded and level surface), you simply bolt the steel panels together and your Quonset hut is ready to go. Adding durable and attractive storage or workshop space has never been easier.
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