Nissen hut in Port Lincoln, South Australia, in the process of being converted into the John Calvin Presbyterian Church in the early 1950s. It was demolished in the late 1960s.

one of many Nissen huts covered with earth and used for munition storage during WWII. Charles Darwin National Park, Darwin NT Australia, 2006

The Nissen hut is a shelter made from a semi-circle of corrugated steel that was used extensively during the Second World War by the Commonwealth and U.S. military to build army camps and airbases. Image File history File linksMetadata Pt_Lincoln. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Pt_Lincoln. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 544 pixelsFull resolution (974 × 662 pixel, file size: 628 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Photograph by Bill Bradley. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 544 pixelsFull resolution (974 × 662 pixel, file size: 628 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)Photograph by Bill Bradley. ... Corrugated iron is a building material made by taking sheet iron or steel and pressing it into corrugations to give the flat sheet stiffness without the need for a frame. ... The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ...

Description

A Nissen hut is made from a a sheet of metal bent into half a cylinder and planted in the ground with its axis horizontal. The hut was not precisely semi-circular as the bottom of the hut curved in slightly. The exterior was formed from curved corrugated steel sheets 10 foot 6 inches by 2 foot 2 inches laid with a two corrugation lap at the side and a 6 inch overlap at the ends. Three sheets covered the arc of the hut (about 54 sheets in all were required). These were attached to five, 3 inch x 2 inch wooden purlins and 3 inch x 2 inch wooden spiking plates at the ends of the floor joists. A right circular cylinder An elliptic cylinder In mathematics, a cylinder is a quadric surface, with the following equation in Cartesian coordinates: This equation is for an elliptic cylinder, a generalization of the ordinary, circular cylinder (a = b). ... Corrugated iron is a building material made by taking sheet iron or steel and pressing it into corrugations to give the flat sheet stiffness without the need for a frame. ... The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ... Look up purlin in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

The purlins were attached to eight T shaped ribs (1¾ inches x 1¾ inches x 0.2 inch) set at 6 foot 0.5 inch centres. Each rib consisted of three sections bolted together using splice plates (see Figure Three) and each end was bolted to the floor at the bearers. With each rib were two straining wires, one on each side and a straining ratchet (or in some cases a simple fenceing wire strainer). The wires were strained during construction. The straining wires do not appear in the original Nissen patent.

The purlins were attached to the ribs using a “hook” bolt, which hooked through a pre-drilled hole in the rib and was secured into the purlin. The hook bolt was a unique feature of the Nissen design.

Interior lining could be horizontal corrugated iron or material like was masonite attached to the ribs. The roof and lining form a circular space with a radius of 8 foot 0.5 inch, although because of the inward curve the floor was only 15 foot 10 inches. The space between the interior and exterior lining could be used for insulation and services if required.

The walls and floors rested on foundations consisting of 4 inch x 4 inch stumps with 15 x 9 inch sole plates. On these were 4 x 3 inch bearers and 4 x 2 inch joists at 2 foot 10 inch centres. The floor was made from tongue and groove floorboards. At East Hills and at Villawood the floor was concrete, the ribs in this case were simply attached to the concrete slab by a simple metal strap.

At either end the walls were made from a simple wooden frame with weatherboards nailed to the outside.

Windows and doors could be added to the sides by creating a simple dormer form through adding a simple 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, 16 ft (4.88 m), 24 ft (7.32 m) or 30 ft (9.15 m). The longitudinal bays come in multiples of 6 ft (1.83 m).^[1] The corrugated steel half-circles used to build Nissen huts can be stored efficiently, because the curved sheets can be cupped one inside another.

The Nissen hut is able to withstand earthquakes, because it has no weak right-angle bends between its walls, roof or foundation and because of its circular shape. An earthquake is the result from the sudden release of stored energy in the Earths crust that creates seismic waves. ... A brick wall A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. ... The roofs of Olomouc, Czech Republic. ... A foundation is a structure that transmits loads from a building or road to the underlying ground. ...

See also: earthquake construction

Earthquake construction is a branch of architectural engineering concerned with making sure structures can withstand as severe an earthquake shock as possible given the materials available. ...

History

It is not surprising that during the course of World War I a design for a prefabricated, portable multi-purpose hut was developed. Sometime between the 16th and the 18th of April 1916, the then Major Peter Norman Nissen of the 29th Company Royal Engineers began to experiment with hut designs. Nissen, a middle-aged mining engineer and inventor, constructed three prototype semi-circular huts. The semi-circular shape was derived from the drill-shed roof at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. Nissen’s design was subject to intensive design review by his fellow officers, Lt Col’s Shelly, Sewell and McDonald and General Liddell, which helped Nissen develop the design. After the third prototype was completed the design was formalised and the Nissen Hut was put into production in August 1916 (see Figure One). At least 100,000 were produced in World War I (McCosh 1997:82-108). Peter Norman Nissen, a Canadian mining engineer, developed the prefabricated shelter called the Nissen hut in 1916. ... Queens University, generally referred to simply as Queens, is a coeducational, non-sectarian, public university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. ... Murney Tower, Kingston The Fort Henry Guard performing an historical demonstration The Prince George Hotel. ...

Nissen patented his invention in the UK in 1916 and later patents were taken out in the USA, Canada, South Africa and Australia. Nissen received royalties from the British government not for huts made during the war but for their sale after the conflict. Nissen got some £13,000 and the DSO!

Two factors influenced the design of the hut. First, the building had to be economic in its use of materials, especially considering war-time shortages of building material. Second, the building had to be portable. This was particularly important in view of the war-time 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 was 1 hour 27min (McCosh 1997:108).

Production of the Nissen waned between the wars but was revived in 1939. Nissen Buildings Ltd waived their patent rights for war-time production. Similar shaped hut types were developed as well, notably the Romney Hut in the UK and the Quonset huts in the USA. All types were mass produced in their thousands. The Nissen Hut was used for a wide range of functions, apart from accommodation they were used as churches and bomb stores, etc. (see Francis 1996, Innes 1998, 2000, Pullar 1997). A typical Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated steel having a semicircular cross section. ...

During World War Two the Nissen hut was produced along with a similar type, the Romney Hut. In the USA the Quonset hut and its derivatives were developed; the inital version was almost a copy of Nissen's design.

Accounts of life in the hut generally were not positive. Huts in the United Kingdom were frequently seen as cold and drafty while those in the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific were seen as stuffy and humid.

Although the prefabricated hut was conceived to meet war time demand for accommodation, similar situations such as construction camps, are places where prefabricated buildings are useful. The Nissen hut was adapted into a prefabricated two story house and marketed by Nissen-Petren Ltd (see Figure Three). The standard Nissen Hut was often recycled into housing (McCoash 1997:121-123). A similar approach was taken with the US Quonset Hut at the end of WWII with articles on how to adapt the buildings for domestic use appearing in Home Beautiful as well as Popular Mechanics.

However the adaptation of the semi-circular hut to non-institutional uses was not popular. Neither the Nissen nor the Quonset developed into popular housing despite their low cost. One reason was the association with huts: a hut was not a house, with all the status a house implies. The second point was that rectangular furniture does not fit into a curved wall house very well (based on the authors experience of living in an angular flat) and thus the actual usable space in a hut might be much less than supposed.

See also

Quonset hut, a hut which is based on the Nissen hut, which was developed by the US Navy in World War II. A typical Quonset hut A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure of corrugated steel having a semicircular cross section. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

The Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm, a church made by Italian prisoners-of-war from two Nissen huts joined end-to-end. The Italian Chapel on Lamb Holm in Orkney, Scotland was built by Italian prisoners of war during World War II. The prisoners were stationed on the island between 1942 and 1945 to help in construction of the Churchill Barriers. ... Lamb Holm is a small island in Orkney, Scotland. ... It has been suggested that Ecclesia (Church) be merged into this article or section. ...

References

1. ^ Brown, Ian et al. (1995). 20th century defences in Britain: an introductory guide. Council for British Archaeology. ISBN 1-872414-57-5. 

Engineer in Chief (Army). 1966. Handbook of Nissen Huts: 16'0" and 24' 0" Span, issued December 1944, Revised March 1966 Army Code No 14867. (Probably a British Army publication).

Francis, P. 1996. British Military Airfield Architecture: from Airships to the Jet Age. Yeovil: Patrick Stephens Limited.

Innes, G.B. 1995. British Airfield Buildings of the Second World War. Earl Shinton: Midland Publishing Limited

Innes, G.B. 2000. British Airfield Buildings Volume 2: The Expansion & Inter-War Periods. Hersham: Midland Publishing.

McCosh, F. 1997 Nissen of the Huts: A biography of Lt Col. Peter Nissen, DSO. Bourne End: B D Publishing.

Pullar, M. 1997. Prefabricated WWII Structures in Queensland. Report to National Trust of Queensland.

Stuart, I.M. 2005 Of the Hut, I bolted: A preliminary account of prefabricated semi-cylindrical huts in Australia. Historic Environment, Vol 19(1):51-56.

External links

• Image of a World War II USAAF Nissen Hut
• Nissen hut pictured at nissenhut.com.