Of the hut I bolted: A preliminary account of prefabricated semi-cylindrical huts in Australia Iain Stuart Prefabricoted semi-cylindricol huts haue been a familiar element of Australia's orchitectural landscape. Many of the post- war generation would haue slept, eaten, been taught or possibly been conceiuedin such a hut. Often simply called Nissen Huts, they were common feotures of military bases, migrant comps, hospitals and educational institutions. Howeuer, recent researchhas shown that not much is hnown about the hutsand their history in Australia and that there is a need for some more precise occounts of their types and uariety. The aim of the paper is not to prouide a definitiue account of the Nissen, Quonset qnd similor huts, but to mahe some preliminary commentson the occurrenceof the types in Australia Introduction This paper is the result of research that I undertookwhen requested to assess four small and two large semi-cylindrical huts at the former East Hills Migrant Barracks site near Sydney.l Initially, the huts were assumed to be Nissen huts or possibly the American version, the Quonsethut. The research was directedinto how to tell one from the other in order to assess their significance as building types. The mdn difficulty was in finding sufficient information on prefabricated semi- cylindrical huts to enable the hut types to be identified. lt was assumed, because of their ubiquitous nature, that there would be a considerable amount of information available in Australia and overseas. A number of likely sources were searched without success, The lack of information about huts was somewhat surprising, as they seemed to be a common itemon militarybases and other institutions such as hospitalsand migrant camps.' The results of the research are presented below as a guideto identifying semi-cylindrical prefabricated huts. The aim of the paper is not to provide a definitive account of the Nissen and the Quonset Huts, but to provide information on the nature of the huts, how to distinguish between the types and some preliminary comments on theiruse in Australia. lt is hopedthat this will assist thosefacedwith a semi-cylindrical hut to assess by providing some context for the assessment. The Nissen hut and its derivatives One of the difficulties of war has always been the need to accommodate the troops. Often the soldiers were billeted in requisitioned houses, in tents or slept in the open. Campaigns were often limitedby the needs of accommodation and had distinct winterphases where troopswent into 'winter quarters'. With the adventof mass mobilisation such as occurredin the WorldWar lthe demandfor accommodation soon outstripped available barracks or what could be requisitioned. Moreover, the demandfor accommodation was often not where existing buildings could be readily adapted or erected.Tentswere of limiteduse as they providedlittle shelterfrom the elements, particularly in the European winter.So with the age of mass armies and total war came a need ior mass accommodation. It is not surprising then that during the courseof WorldWar I a design for a prefabricated, portable multi-purpose hut was developed, in France, by a serving officer.3 Between 'l 6 and 18 April 1916, MajorPeterNissen of the 29th Company, Royal Engineers, beganto experiment with hut designs. Nissen, a middle-aged miningengineer and inventor, constructed three prototype semi-cylindrical huts.The semi-cylindrical shapewas derived from the drill-shed roof at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. Nissen's design was subject to intensive designreview by his fellow officers, Lt Colonels Shelly, Sewell, McDonald and General Liddell. After the third prototype was completed,the design was formalisedand the Nissen Hut was put into production in August1916." At least100,000 were produced in WorldWar I to two basicdesigns: a 16ft span (often called a 'Bow' hut) and a 24ft span (oftencalled a 'hospital').5 There was also a 30ft-span hut in production. Twofactors influenced the ultimate design of the hut. Firstly, the building had to be economic in its usage of materials, especially considering war-time shortages of building material. Secondly, the building had to be portable so that it could easily be moved to where the accommodation was required. This was particularly important in view of the war-time shortages of shipping space. Inevitably this led to a simple form that was prefabricated for easeof erection and removal. The Nissen hut couldbe packed in a standard British Army wagonand erected by six men in four hours.The world record time for erection was t hour, 27 minutes.G In the post-warperiod Nissen, who had patented the design, attempted to adapt the . basic hut design to commercial housing, seeing in the hut the solution to the housing shortage. Despite some initial promise, success was limited.T During World War ll, the Nissen hut was put back into production along with a similar type, the Romneyhut, whose historyis unclearas yet. According to Francis, the lris and Romney huts were designed by the British Directorate of Fortifications, at Romney House, London.Production of the lris was discontinued as the tubingused in its structure proved too flimsy but the Romney was in production throughout the war.8 The Romney Hut was 35ft wide x 17ft 6in high with ribs at 8ft centres. The normal length was 96 ft. The ribs are described as being 2.5in of square tubular steel withsteel angle purlins of 1% in x 1"/q in. The exteriorwas covered with corrugated steel sheeting. Therewere sliding doors, 1Oft8?in wide and 13ft high, at either or both endsof the building.'g Many other types of hut were producedin Britain such as: A, B, X, Y & Z type timber huts,lgloosheds, Jane huts,Marston historic environmentvolume 19 number1 2OO5 5 I