SteelMaster’s Presence in the Caribbean: Six Notable Projects

SteelMaster’s specialized Latin America department has been serving the region for over 40 years with over 50,000 completed projects worldwide. Our steel buildings are not only used by private industries but also serve communities and individuals. The unique design, durability, and simple assembly of a Quonset hut make it perfect for a variety of uses including storage, humanitarian projects, agriculture, manufacturing, and more!

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See some of our Caribbean projects below!

1. Tortola Lobster Farm – British Virgin Islands

This custom designed lobster farm was created for Caribbean Sustainable Fisheries who aim to practice sustainable aquaculture that supports the local community. Their farm is specially designed to provide optimal habitat for lobster growth as well as ensuring a fresh product supply to restaurants. These one-of-a-kind structures are all connected side by side allowing products to easily be transferred across buildings.

The ease of construction of our prefabricated kits makes it easy to quickly assemble the buildings, without the need for skilled labor. The parts for our buildings are packaged small, giving us the ability to get material to remote areas like Tortola. Our buildings are designed for the wind requirements and in this case, a wind load resistance up to 190 MPH was a requirement, which is essential in a windy area like the Caribbean.

2. Norwegian Cruise Line Building – Bahamas

This is one of the five buildings located on the Norwegian Cruise Line’s private island Great Stirrup Cay. The first structure built on the island was used to store construction material and equipment that enabled the cruise line to build out the land into a destination island for their passengers. It was later expanded and transformed to store and protect items such as boats and jets skis. All our models are easily expandable if a larger building is ever needed.

The pictured A-model structure was assembled as a support building to shelter heavy equipment from poor weather. The open-ended design makes it easy for quick storage.

Three additional buildings were later added to increase storage and shelter additional equipment from weather conditions.

3. Relief Shelter – Haiti

In the Caribbean, Quonset huts have been used in humanitarian aid and in emergency response. Our “Clinic in a Can” has been used all over the world including the Caribbean countries of Barbuda, Dominica, Dominican Republic, and Haiti. These quickly constructed buildings utilize the shipping container and a SteelMaster cover in their design to provide medical care in areas that need quick relief.

Other buildings have also been put up after natural disasters to provide shelter and serve as churches or schools.

4. Cerro Kamuk – Costa Rica

This project was conducted by a non-profit organization who wanted to set up three buildings along the 3-day trek to Peak Kamuk. Originally, hikers camped under tarps, but these buildings were sought as a replacement to provide better protection against the climate and wildlife. All our steel pieces are baked with Galvalume plus coating, making them highly resistant to weather.

In these hard-to-reach locations, a helicopter was used to bring the packaged materials to their spots in the mountains. Our base connector with pre-cut holes allows our buildings to accommodate bases of different material. This enabled them to use a wood foundation rather than concrete, something that would not have been feasible in this terrain.

Currently, more steel buildings are being considered as stopping points for other long hikes.

5. Airport of Liberia – Costa Rica

This building is one of the first projects in Costa Rica.  This project was a project for the US Army Corps of Engineers and brought to us by our local distributor.  Reliance on load bearing arches erases the need for beams and trusses which allows the utilization of all interior space, creating plenty of room for storing equipment and holding planes for maintenance. Our building was chosen for its ability to withstand time without upkeep costs or the need for replacement parts. A key capability of the Quonset hut is also portability, which gives the airport the ability to move the building if ever needed.

6. World Vision – Haiti

SteelMaster has worked with various organizations to assist in recovery efforts, including AECOM, USAID, the United Nations, as well as non-profit organizations like World Vision.

In 2010, a magnitude 7 earthquake shook the country of Haiti, killing at least 100,000 and destroying more than 280,000 structures. The Assembly of God Church in Washington State purchased three buildings from SteelMaster and donated them to the affected area in Haiti after a devastating earthquake.

One building was used as a church and the other two were used for schools. A group of 50 people helped assemble these buildings. Most of the construction was completed in one month and the entire project was completed in three months.