Metal buildings are usually prefabricated eco friendly buildings. Metal buildings are made offsite and are assembled onsite. Metal buildings are usually welded together and the insulation is better than a brick and mortar building. Metal buildings are made to specifications by manufacturers who are well versed with building codes that relate to buildings made of metal.
Schools churches meeting halls and other institutional buildings and commercial warehouses and sheds were housed in metal buildings at first. New designs of metal buildings have made metal buildings popular for residences and offices. Buildings made of metal have metal walls and this gives more floor space than conventional buildings. Buildings made of metal built in a factory and fixed in a building site usually come with a warranty unlike conventional buildings. Metal buildings are thought to be the buildings of the future and will replace conventional buildings because of their durability. PowerBiltBuildings.com
Quonset huts are a unique architectural phenomena, a revolutionary concept in temporary housing. Quonset huts are in basic terms lightweight structures that have been manufactured using iron that is galvanized and has a semi circular cross section. The design of Quonset huts was inspired from the Nissen hut model and was made popular by the British during World War I. Since the original design of the Nissen prototype was an intricate array of corrugated iron panels both inside and the thermal protection came from the space between the panel arrangements, the Government came up with a variation to avoid setbacks during shipping and reassembly. Quonset huts were named after the first manufacturing site, Quonset Point, Danisville, which was part of Rhode Island. The original design was 5 m by 11 m and was framed with semicircular steel pipes 2.4 m in radius, which were covered on the sides with corrugated steel sheets. The doors and windows were designed off the side of the main structure with regular ply, and the insulated interior contained a wood floor.
The very idea of this type of provisional housing facilities increased in use post 1941 when the US Navy needed reliable shelters for its military bases. The answer lay in constructing a lightweight shelter that could be readily shipped anywhere and did not require expert hands during assembly. In fact the building itself could be assembled just about anywhere, on concrete, iron pilings or even directly on the ground. The interior space is an open area allowing maximum flexibility, which means the facility could be used as housing, office or medical space, military storage units or even barracks. These buildings provided the US military with enhanced facilities and were a far cry from the inconvenient tenting on wooden bases that were usually used at that time.
From its application as military shelters, many other contractors began developing their own versions of the Quonset hut for other uses. From its initial deisgn, Quonset huts have seen many enhancements, and the last significant one was in 1943 when the Quonset Point manufacturing factory was taken over by the Great Lakes Steel Corporation and established as the Stran Steel Division. The variant of the Quonset huts thus developed had a more elongated design and applied the full arch corrugated pipes that was part of the intial model. Some variations of the Quonset hut structures were created to serve special needs, such as the wooden Pacific hut, and many of these did save valuable metal resources. Some had heavy steel piping and these were specifically built to serve as air raid shelters. Other bulky Quonset hut structures and multi arched variants have also been built to meet specific Government orders as well as civil demands.
Although Quonset huts began as a product of a military necessity, it has rapidly diversified into an iconic symbol of sorts. Quonset huts have with time become a more accepted mode of housing and are a reflection of the American spirit of invention. Quonset huts are certainly an exclusive phenomena, where the novel and the extraordinary merge seamlessly.