Saturday, July 21, 2012

Steel Building or Quonset Hut?

SteelMaster steel buildings are sometimes called Quonset huts.  We are often asked if they are the same or if they are different.  The answer to both questions is YES!

Quonset huts are prefabricated structures of corrugated galvanized steel that are arched shaped.

The design of a Quonset was derived from the Nissen hut developed in England during World War I.  The Quonset name was used for the newly designed structure as a tribute to the first manufacturing site, Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

The Quonset hut was commissioned by the United States Navy in 1941 in response to a need for an all-purpose, lightweight building that could be easily shipped anywhere in the world and assembled quickly.  It is estimated that between 150,000 and 170,000 Quonset huts were manufactured during World War II.  Manufacturing of Quonset huts was transferred to Stran-Steel Division of the Great Lakes Steel Corporation.  Stran-Steel improved the design of the structure as well as expanded the building’s footprint.  The new design allowed the building to be constructed in one day by ten men only using hand tools.  It required no special skills to construct and was lighter and smaller when crated for transport.

During the war, Quonsets were also used as single-family building units to accommodate transient military personnel and their families.  Quonset hut communities popped up on naval bases throughout the United States with most constructed on the West Coast where the need was the greatest.  After the war, the U.S. military sold surplus buildings to the public for about $1,000 each which at the time was about the cost of a small home.  Many of these buildings are still standing today throughout the USA.

In the late 1970’s, SteelMaster engineered and designed a new, stronger structure based the historic designs of the Quonset Hut.  SteelMaster evolved the Quonset into a new structure that combines the architectural strength of the arch along with 20th century technology which allows the buildings to be designed and engineered to handle all types of climates and conditions.  The Quonset style building was nicknamed the “Q-Model” to honor the historical significance of these structures over time.   And over the years, we continued to develop the original Quonset design and engineering to meet the same primary goal:  provide all-purpose Prefabricated Steel Buildings and Roofing Structures that can be shipped anywhere in the world and can be constructed quickly and easily.

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