A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure originally for military use, especially as barracks, made from a 210° portion of a cylindrical skin of corrugated iron placed over a steel and wood frame. It was designed during the First World War by Major Peter Norman Nissen in Britain. It was also used extensively during the Second World War and was adapted as the similar Quonset hut in the United States.
Description
A Nissen hut is made from a sheet of metal bent into half a cylinder and planted in the ground with its axis horizontal. The cross-section is slightly more than a semi-circle so that the bottom of the hut curves inwards slightly. The exterior is formed from curved corrugated steel sheets 10 feet 6 inches (320 cm) by 2 feet 2 inches (66 cm), laid with a two-corrugation lap at the side and a 6-inch (15 cm) overlap at the ends. Three sheets cover the arc of the hut. They are attached to five 3-by-2-inch (76 mm × 51 mm) wooden purlins and 3-by-2-inch (76 mm × 51 mm) wooden spiking plates at the ends of the floor joists. The purlins are attached to eight T-shaped ribs (1+3⁄4 by 1+3⁄4 by 1⁄8 inch [44.5 mm × 44.5 mm × 3.2 mm]) set at 6-foot (1.8 m) centres. Each rib consists of three sections bolted together using splice plates, and each end is bolted to the floor at the bearers. With each rib are two straining wires, one on each side, and a straining ratchet (or in some cases a simple fencing-wire strainer). The wires are strained during construction. The straining wires do not appear in the original Nissen patent. The purlins are attached to the ribs using a "hook" bolt, which hooks through a pre-drilled hole in the rib and is secured into the purlin. The hook bolt is a unique feature of the Nissen design. Interior lining could be horizontal corrugated iron or material like hardboard attached to the ribs. Sometimes corrugated asbestos cement sheeting was used. If required, the space between the lining and the exterior may be used for insulation and services. The walls and floors rest on foundations consisting of 4-by-4-inch (10 by 10 cm) stumps with 15-by-9-inch (38 by 23 cm) sole plates. On these are 4-by-3-inch (10.2 by 7.6 cm) bearers and 4-by-2-inch (10.2 by 5.1 cm) joists at 34-inch (86 cm) centres. The floor is made from tongue-and-groove floorboards. At each end the walls are made from a wooden frame with weatherboards nailed to the outside. Windows and doors may be added to the sides by creating a dormer form by adding a frame to take the upper piece of corrugated iron and replacing the lower piece with a suitable frame for a door or window. Nissen huts come in three internal spans (diameters)—16 ft (4.9 m), 24 ft (7.3 m), and 30 ft (9.1 m). The longitudinal bays come in multiples of 6 ft (1.8 m), allowing the length of the cylinder to be any multiple of that. The corrugated steel half-circles used to build Nissen huts can be stored efficiently because the curved sheets can be cupped one inside another. However, there is no standard model of Nissen hut, because the design was never static and changed according to demand.
History Between 16 and 18 April 1916, Major Peter Norman Nissen of the 29th Company Royal Engineers of the British Army began to experiment with hut designs. Nissen, a mining engineer and inventor, constructed three prototype semi-cylindrical huts. The semi-cylindrical shape was derived from the drill-shed roof at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario (collapsed 1896). Nissen's design was subject to intensive review by his fellow officers, Lieutenant Colonels Shelly, Sewell, and McDonald, and General Clive Gerard Liddell, who helped Nissen develop the design. After the third prototype was completed, the design was formalized and the Nissen hut was put into production in August 1916. At least 100,000 were produced in the First World War. Nissen patented his invention in the UK in 1916 and patents were taken out later in the United States, Canada, South Africa and Australia. Nissen received royalties from the British government, not for huts made during the war, but only for their sale after the conflict. Nissen received some £13,000 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO). Two factors influenced the design of the hut. First, the building had to be economical in its use of materials, especially considering wartime shortages of building material. Second, the building had to be portable. This was particularly important in view of the wartime shortages of shipping space. This led to a simple form that was prefabricated for ease of erection and removal. The Nissen hut could be packed in a standard Army wagon and erected by six men in four hours. The world record for erection is 1 hour 27 minutes.
Production of Nissen huts waned between the wars, but was revived in 1939. Nissen Buildings Ltd. waived its patent rights for wartime production during the Second World War (1939–45). Similar-shaped hut types were developed as well, notably the larger Romney hut in the UK and the Quonset hut in the United States. All types were mass-produced in the thousands. The Nissen hut was used for a wide range of functions; apart from accommodation, they functioned as churches and bomb stores, among other uses. Accounts of life in the hut generally were not positive. Huts in the United Kingdom were frequently seen as cold and draughty, while those in the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific were seen as stuffy and humid.
Use as family housing Although the prefabricated hut was conceived to meet wartime demand for accommodation, similar situations, such as construction camps, are places where prefabricated buildings are useful. The Nissen hut was adapted into a larger prefabricated two-storey house and marketed by Nissen-Petren Ltd. Four of the original prototypes survive in Queen Camel in Somerset. The standard Nissen hut was often recycled into housing. A similar approach was taken with the U.S. Quonset hut at the end of the war, with articles on how to adapt the buildings for domestic use appearing in Home Beautiful and Popular Mechanics. In Aultbea on Loch Ewe, in Scotland, a large Nissen hut cinema built by the Royal Navy was donated to the village after the Second World War, and remains in use as a community hall. Nissen hut houses survive in Hvalfjörður, Iceland. They were built to house naval personnel during the war.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
