Improvements in the Construction of Removable or Portable Buildings.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Feb., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Nov., 1899-Accepted, 17th Feb., 1900
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Nov., 1899-Accepted, 17th Feb., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Construction of Removable or Portable
Buildings.
A communication from abroad by JOHANNES JÄGER, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, Architect, and JOHANNES SEIFFERT, of Cologne on the Rhine, Ger-
many, Architect.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 and 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
In the construction of temporary buildings such as field infirmaries, barracks,
sheds, booths and the like, intended to be taken to pieces when no longer required
and to be taken to pieces and to be carried from place to place, which in some
cases may be erected on solid foundations, in others, upon rollers, it has hitherto
been the general practice to make the several walls, which the structure comprised,
capable of being folded, so that they might be transported in as compact a form
as possible and take up a minimum of space.
In thus constructing portable buildings of folding plates or walls, it has been
found, however, that the parts of the structures which were employed in joining
together such walls, were insufficient to render the building adequately strong and
resistant. This is why the method of construction to which we are referring is
not suited to the erection of houses intended for use as permanent dwellings,
but can only be made serviceable for temporary or provisional erections.
Now the subject of this invention lies in certain improvements in the erection
of portable dwelling houses, adapted to be carried from place to place in parts,
but which being placed upon solid foundations, are suitable for permanent use,
possessing as they do the degree of strength necessary for that purpose, and which
has not as yet been attained in buildings of this description.
"
The main feature of this invention is that the portable buildings are made up
not of individual plates or walls, but of ready-made compartments or
"cells
which jointly form one rigid structure, while each constitutes an inhabitable
room or apartment. By thus fitting together the cells that is to say a number
of geometrical figures or bodies an increased power of resistance to mechanical
forces is imparted to the building, so that, in point of durability, it equals that
of ordinary permanent buildings.
In carrying out constructions in accordance with this invention, the materials
employed in forming the walls or partitions may be either metal such as corru-
gated iron or other suitable building material, preference being given to such
substances as are least liable to break.
The junction of the several cells may be effected in any desired manner, by
means of braces, fish plates or the like.
From an economical point of view this invention affords the advantage, in cases
where works or factories are located at inconvenient distances from any town

page_text: or industrial centre, of enabling the necessary dwellings to be readily and at little
cost erected near at hand and in readiness for immediate occupation; in fact
the whole structure may be made ready beforehand and brought, complete, to the
spot and when no longer required at one place, it may with equal facility be taken
to pieces and carried elsewhere for re-erection.
1000
Improvements in the Construction of Removable or Portable
Buildings.
Communication from JOHANNES JÄGER, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia,
Architect, and JOHANNES SEIFFERT, of Cologne on the Rhine, Germany,
Architect.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROOKES, of 55 and 56, Chancery Lane, in the County of
London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare_the_nature of this invention
and in what manner th
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to a method of production of structures, whereby,-
especially in regard to the construction of small dwelling houses, the advantages
afforded by stationary structures, or buildings become combined with the possi-
bility of unfixing any given structure from the spot at which it has first been
erected, and removing it to, and re-erecting it at, any other convenient spot.
Amongst uses to which this invention is also adaptable are the construction of
temporary buildings such as field-infirmaries, barracks, sheds, booths and the like.
There already exist a number of methods for the production of portable struc-
tures, all of which are, on the whole, reducible to the principle of being taken to
pieces at one place, transported to another, and fitted together again at the other
end. Now the limitation to which all structures of this class are subjected, and
which have hitherto prevented portable structures from being to any appreciable
extent adopted as places of residence, lay in the fact that, in some cases, the com-
ponent elements of the structure, consisted of separate pieces of building material,
previously worked into shape, while in others the structures themselves were a
species of trucks or rolling huts, surrounded and consolidated by means of either
stationary or removable walls; the result being in either case but of temporary
utility. For, in the first place, the parts of the proposed structure, made from the
necessary building materials, to be capable of a satisfactory junction and dis-
junction for removal and re-erection, have to be finished with the greatest care
and accuracy, and this operation, being both complicated and expensive, naturally
places this form of removable structures entirely out of the question in so far as
the question of providing cheap dwellings is concerned.
Again where the type of structure is simple, its erection easy and the building
materials inexpensive, the resulting fabric must prove unsuited to residential pur-
poses for any length of time. Hence structures of this description have hitherto
almost exclusively been used as temporary erections of the hut or booth type, such
as lazarettos, field hospitals or the like, where portability was. attained at the
expense of durability.-a quality which, however, cannot be dispensed with where
the object is to provide houses for permanent human habitation.

page_text: According to this invention, the ready portability of structures is secured without
any sacrifice of strength, by composing the structures of a number of individual
portable space-units hereinafter to be termed "cells "-each being a rigidly con-
structed body in itself. These cells, serving as indivisible structural constituents
of buildings erected after this method, go to form, a strong immovable skeleton
of iron or wooden bars encompassing or framing one or more spaces which may or
may not vary in size and arrangement according to the purpose for which the
rooms, whereof they are the framework, are to be used; the intervening surfaces
being afterwards filled in with suitable building materials. In the case of
dwelling houses, as will be understood, the smallest unit of space will be repre-
sented by a cell having the minimum dimensions of an apartment fit for man to
reside in.
By this method of "making up" houses by fitting together a number of
separate cells, the houses themselves are rendered removable and portable in
a relative degree, since the cells of which they consist need only be disconnected.
when required, to become capable of being singly transferred to another place and
there reunited.
Thus where this mode of construction is adopted fluctuations in the prices of
land may in a very great measure be taken into account hy proportioning the areas
occupied by buildings in accordance therewith. No difficulty will be experienced
for example, in those cases where the rise in the price of land is such as to
render it impossible to carry on the letting of an existing block of workman's
buildings at a reasonable profit; all that will be required being to sever as many
of the cell structures forming part of the building or buildings as may be neces-
sary to reduce the area occupied, and to take them elsewhere or otherwise utilise
them, all which is feasible without any appreciable loss of capital.
As regards the process of erection itself, it affords the advantage that the
requisite building materials may not only be provided by suitable methods of
manufacture on a large scale, but that they may be properly worked and shaped
at any distance from the place of erection and supplied from the works ready made
and fit for immediate use.
The cells of a building, constructed in accordance with this process,--them-
selves indivisible units-constitute a firm and stable fabric or skeleton comprising
one or more spaces, alike or different in size or shape, according to the purpose for
which they are intended, preferably, however, the dimensions of the compartments
should be uniform and particularly as regards the subdivision of each structure
in the vertical direction, the standard of measurement should be the same through-
out, so that adjoining cells may be more readily fitted together, both where
they exactly correspond with each other in length or width, and where one differs
from the other in size or arrangement to the extent of one or more compartments.
The cell structure or skeleton may consist either of iron rods or bars throughout
(which may vary in shape according to the object they are to serve, whether as
supports, props, sleepers, beams, ties, etcetera), or of similar pieces, partly iron
and partly timber.
In a house where two adjoining cells are to form one compartment, the inter-
mediate rods or bars of one side wall are dispensed with.
The areas to be occupied by walls, ceilings and floors are filled in with suitable
building materials, in the selection and structural conjunction of which questions
of resistance during transport, safety from fire, thermal insulation, etcetera, as
also the situation of the building and its contemplated utility, must be duly taken
into account, so that it is scarcely possible to lay down any fixed rules in these
respects experience being relied on to suggest the proper course of action in
each case.
In the accompanying drawings the inventions exemplified by views of various
forms of cells, structures and parts of structures carried out in accordance herewith.
Figures 1 to 5 being plans of ground floor cells designed for various purposes,

page_text: Figures 6 to 15 are plans of various ground floors consisting of a number of
cells each.
Figs. 16 and 17 are, respectively; a front elevation and side elevation correspond-
ing to the plan Fig. 12.
Fig. 18 is a side elevation corresponding to the plan Fig. 14.
Fig. 19 is an elevation of a ground floor cell as fitted on a railway truck or plat-
form for transport, the surrounding outline indicating the section of the proposed
building.
Fig. 20 is a cross section of a cell comprising a gabled roof space or attic.
Fig. 21 is an isometrical diagrammatic perspective view of the iron skeleton of
a cell.
Fig. 22 is a section of the outer wall.
Fig. 23 illustrates the corner connection of the iron bars or rails at a Fig. 21.
Fig. 24 gives similar views illustrative of the corner connection at 6 Fig. 21.
Fig. 25 illustrates the method of connecting two adjoining cells.
Fig. 26 shows the manner in which four cells, arranged in two superposed pairs,
are connected together; and
Fig. 27 represents the arrangement of a door connection between two adjoining
cells.
In Figs. 1 to 5 variously arranged ground cells are shown; A (Fig. 1) being a
single cell combining a bed-sitting room and a kitchen; B (Fig. 2), a kitchen cell
with hall, water closet, stove and ladder leading to garret; C (Fig. 3), a sitting
room cell; D (Fig. 4), a bed sitting room cell, and E (Fig. 5)-a-bed-room-cell-
-divided into two rooms.
Fig. 6 is the plan of a tenement for a single family, composed of two cells of
the B and D types respectively; Figs. 16 and 20 being an elevation and a vertical
section corresponding thereto.
As shown, the ground cells are made to adjoin each other along their longitudinal
sides, and communicate by means of a door.
Fig. 7 represents a single household tenement consisting of three cells of
the B, C and D types respectively. The central cell C is set further rearwards than
the two side cells, to the extent of one division or compartment of the framework,
so that room is provided for a porch or piazza in front of the cottage.
Fig. 8 shows an arrangement suitable for two families, made up of cells of the
B, C, E, D, B types. The rooms partitioned off in the central hall E are accessible
from both the adjoining cells C and D, whereby one half of E is rendered available
for each of the two sets of apartments.
Fig. 9 represents another double tenement consisting of cells of the types A, E
and A, Fig. 17 being the corresponding elevation. The central cell E, being the
bed room cell, is here also divided in such a manner that each half is accessible to
and available by the occupiers of the side apartments A and A respectively.
Fig. 10, again, is a single household tenement made up of cells of the D and B
types, the cell B adjoining the longitudinal side of D with one of its transverse or
end walls.
Fig. 11 is a plan of a hospital structure made up of nine cells B, C, C, C, C.
B, B, B, C with their longitudinal walls adjoining and forming a set of somewhat
spacious rooms suitable for hospital wards, each being equal to twice the width
of a single cell, or in other words consisting of two cells between which the divid-
ing partition is omitted.
Fig. 12 is another single household tenement composed of cells B, D and E,
the latter cell E being sub-divided for use as a set of children's bed rooms.
Fig. 13 is a plan of a somewhat larger dwelling house, made up of the
cells B. C. C and D, the two cells C jointly forming one large apartment of a width
equal to that of two single cells.
Fig. 14 similarly illustrates the arrangement of a dwelling house consisting of
cells B. D, C C C C whereof Fig. 18 is an elevation. Two of the cells C, placed
one on top of the other, form the centre of the building, while the two remaining

page_text: cells CC, and further the cells D and B adjoin the longitudinal walls of the said
superposed central cells with their transverse or end walls.
Fig. 15 represents an arrangement for offices, consisting of two cells B and C.
Both the outer and inner wall construction which it is proposed to adopt for these
cells is illustrated in Figs. 21 to 24.
The cell structure or skeleton, whereof Fig. 21 is a perspective view, consists
wholly of iron, angle iron being used for the corners, sleepers and members of
frames, T-iron for the intermediate pillars and ties, and double T-iron for the
flooring and ceilings, as is clearly shown in the detail views Fig. 23 (as regards
point a) and Fig. 24 (as regards point 6 of the perspective view Fig. 21).
In order to ensure stability, both in regard to the structure as a whole and to
the cells considered singly flat iron stays or struts are used to strengthen both the
corner plates (Fig. 24) and the open spaces or compartments at the corners (Fig. 21).
Fig. 25 illustrates the connection of two adjoining cells at the corners on one side,
by means of T-irons which are screwed on to the respective angle irons and the
projecting web of which engages between the two cell corners.
As shown in Fig. 26, two cells placed one above the other may similarly be
joined together by means of T-irons.
The outer wall spaces are preferably filled, externally, with cork in plates 5
centimetres thick, and internally, with further cork sheeting 4 centimetres thick,
and a space of about two centimetres is left between the two cork sheets or plates
for the purpose of thermal insulation.
The outer sheeting is cemented with cement-mortar outside and coated with
asphalte inside. while the inner sheeting, turned towards the interior of the apart-
ment, should be cemented with lime mortar.
Floors and ceilings likewise should be built up of cork sheeting laid between
the girders or joists, and asphalted. Over the joists a wooden flooring is laid, a
space of 4 centimetres for thermal insulation being left between the cork and floor
boards.
The cells are erected singly upon masonry foundations previously laid for the
purpose and firmly fixed thereon with suitable cramp irons.
In the walls of the cells openings are left for the reception of door and window
frames.
Where the ceiling of a cell does not form also its roof, or where the roof space
is not constituted by a separate cell, a roof of any desired shape or design of
either wood or iron, and with or without a parapet may be constructed so as to
surmount the whole block of cells; such roof being, however, made up of parts
(plates or "tiles") capable of being taken to pieces and, if need be, stowed away
inside the cells so as to render such roof readily transportable along with the
rest of the building.
The inner fixtures, such as wall cupboards, ledges in the shape of seats and
tables, plank beds or the like, may as far as practicable be made integral with
the cells in accordance with any uniform plan or design.
In order to enhance the portability of the cells, the dimensions of their sectional
areas may be such as to admit of their being transported on (or in) normal gauge
railway trucks.
Inasmuch as the weight of a cell, even where its roof is packed in its interior,
does not exceed 7000 kilogrammes, the cells may be conveyed from place to place
even on ordinary roads, two strong horses being sufficient for the purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A new and improved method of production of structures consisting in making
up structures of cells limited or encompassed by firm and unremovable skeleton
frames, substantially as described.
2. A new and improved method of production of structures whereby, the struc-

page_text: tures are composed of cells encompassed by firm and unremovable skeleton frames
and affording room for habitation or other purposes in their interior.
3. A residential or other structure or building consisting of individual cells
encompassed by firm and unremovable skeleton frames, each cell containing one or
more rooms in its interior, and all the cells that go to form such structure or
building being connected into one integral body, substantially as and for the
purpose specified.
"
4. The construction and use of the improved removable or portable buildings
especially adapted for use as dwelling houses, temporary buildings, field infirmaries,
barracks, sheds, booths and other like structures composed of a number of "cells
or units of construction each being a rigidly constructed body in itself, united into
a compound structure by means of fixed framework as and for the purpose described
and shewn by the drawings.
ed the 22nd day of November 1899.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.