All things prefabricated metal buildings
The huts were originally developed by the Navy Seabees by modifying the British Nissen hut design to include wooden lining, insulation and tongue and groove wooden flooring. These structures successfully addressed the need for lightweight, portable troop and equipment housing that could be quickly assembled in the field with nothing more than hand tools. Quonset huts were so successful that returning soldiers purchased the surplus for their own post war housing, and universities purchased them for student housing. Some of these huts are still in use today. The initial Quonset huts design included arched steel rib members constructed in a T design and supported by wooden purlins.