Quonset huts are prefabricated lightweight structures, usually made of galvanized iron, and having a semi circular cross section. They were first manufactured at Quonset Point, at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville, Rhode Island, from which they also take their name. In 1941, the US Army needed an all purpose, lightweight building that could be shipped anywhere and assembled without skilled labor for use in the Second World War. 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. The ends were covered with plywood, and had doors and windows, while the floor inside was wooden. Quonset huts formed a compact, versatile unit that had the capability of being placed anywhere at all. They were initially used as barracks, ammunition dumps, offices, latrines, housing, and for several other purposes. 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. Right now, there exist several varieties of Quonset huts, such as the original or T Bone structure, the Stran Steel model which is larger and lighter than the original, and the Redesign model that uses a two sectional arch that saves more wall space. The innovative design of Quonset huts have inspired several other structures of the same type as well the world over, varying only slightly in terms of design or construction material, but in all aspects essentially resembling the original.
Quonset huts are no longer just a part of the illustrious history of the Second World War, but a very real and unutilized potential for solving housing problems the world over. 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 make efficient use of space, are sturdy and durable, and can provide a very efficient way of living in the modern age. 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. Nowadays, with the cities and even the suburbs becoming overcrowded, and with the prohibitive expenses involved in having traditional houses, Quonset huts ought to be looked upon as an extremely practical and effective tool in tackling the problem.