www.alphadictionary.com

The Quonset hut. We've all most likely seen the term, but do we really know what it means? A western-hemisphere Indian name. but what does it mean and where does it come from?

A Quonset hut is a lightweight prefabricated structure that was typically made of corrugated galvanized steel attached to a metal superstructure having a semicircular cross-section, although during WWII, when steel was a strategic war material, variations were also made of wood or Masonite.

The original design called for the building's arc to rest on a solid surface, which meant that machinery had to be pulled out away from the walls enough to give complete access, wasting a lot of space. Later designs perched the hut's arc on 4'-high knee walls.

According to Wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quonset_hut),

The design was based on the Nissen hut developed by the British during World War I. The name comes from their site of first manufacture, Quonset Point, at the Davisville Naval Construction Battalion Center in Davisville (a village located within the town of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA).

Modern-day uses for the design include greenhouses, made of double layers of polycarbonate separated into air-filled cells that are joined longitudinally for insulation, that are free-standing without the need for internal supports.

OK, you got me there. I looked it up but still didn't get it. Just what is a "knee wall"?

My apologies for allowing the lingo of the architectural & construction trade to sneak over the threshold intended to keep it out of erudite discourse.

A “knee wall” is, quite simply in this case, a perimeter wall that’s only about knee-high. Placing the base of the Quonset’s arch on this knee wall allows things like stoves or refrigerators to be pushed much further away from the center of the room. freeing up precious floor space. Or, as (probably better) put here:

Since the arch of the Quonset hut extended to the floor, beds, sinks, and washing machines had to be moved inward until they abutted the curve at the top edge of the unit. Valuable floor space was being wasted. Reclaiming this space would necessitate changing the overall form of the building.
Brandenberger's team proposed a modified arch with four-foot vertical sidewalls. The new arch, assembled in two sections instead of three, reduced erection time and required fewer fasteners.

Citation: http://www.quonsethuts.org/huts/index.htm

I have never heard such a wall called a knee wall. Thanks for telling us, David. In my experience, knee walls are vertical timbers in an attic connecting the rafters with the ceiling joists of a building to give rigidity. They can be walled or not, depending on the use of the attic. In a story and one half house, the knee wall is the vertical part of the wall of the half story.

Here’s what I found: The place name is from a southern New England Algonquian language and perhaps means "small, long place."