Joseph Danly

[4][3] After Louis's death in 1883, Joseph decided to embark on a new, more profitable activity, and took advantage of the presence of stamping and galvanizing workshops in the forge to experiment with the production of prefabricated iron buildings.

[3][4] The huts Joseph Danly showcased at the Antwerp fair had a simple design and were made of iron panels with edges folded at 90 degrees, mounted together without a supporting frame.

Above all, the gold rushes in North America and Australia, soon followed by the colonial expansion in Africa and Asia, prompted a demand for construction materials that could be easily transported across long distances and through arduous terrain.

[7] Joseph intended his improved building system to be employed in the newly established Congo Free State,[1] where it was in fact used to construct, among other structures, the first church of Boma.

It was operated by the Société des forges et fonderies d'Hautmont (Nord), which had a manufacturing license for the production and distribution of buildings constructed with the Danly system in France and in its colonies.

[9] A partial exception to this were the structures constructed by the Société des forges et fonderies d'Hautmont, which often had the interior layer of the building envelope made of wood or bricks instead of metal.

[8] No foundations were needed for houses built with the Danly system, as the lightweight structures were simply mounted on top of an iron frame laid upon the ground.