The Origin of Quonset Huts

Prior to manufacturing our first Quonset hut kit, the original design was quite different from the steel Quonset hut and metal building kits known today. Initially modeled after the semi-cylindrical Nissen hut developed by the British, creators Dejongh and Brandenberger modified the Nissen model into a structure containing wooden lining, insulation, and tongue and groove wooden flooring and, thus, the Steel Quonset hut model was born. These huts were adaptable and catered to an expansive set of needs, from showers and bakeries to dental offices and everything in between. One difficulty with this initial design arose from the fact that the steel Quonset hut kits were used for more than one purpose, and some required special layouts to accommodate showers, latrines, dental offices, bakeries, and isolation wards, to name a few, as well as all the equipment necessary for those additional uses.

During World War II, the metal Quonset hut design underwent several modifications from its original semi-circular Nissen hut design. The final design was a structure with vertical side walls and a twenty-foot by forty-eight-foot interior living space. This design proved to be more space-efficient than tents with wooden doors and frames, making it an ideal choice for shipping and housing. Later, it was discovered that these huts could be used for purposes other than housing troops and materiel, so multiple interior designs were developed, and larger forty-foot by one-hundred-foot warehouses were introduced.

After the war ended, the United States Navy offered many of its surplus Quonset huts to the public for $1000 per hut, where many universities acquired them for student housing. Some of the returning soldiers even chose to purchase these steel buildings for their homes.