Building components · Wall Leaves & Backing
Soldier Course
Explains the soldier course as a course whose orientation removes the bonding it would otherwise have, and why that changes what supports it.
Educational reference entry. What this element has to do, and whether any particular arrangement of it is adequate, depends on the whole assembly, the loading, the exposure, local requirements, the manufacturer's instructions and qualified professional design.
Overview
What a soldier course is
A soldier course is a course in which the units stand on end, their long dimension vertical and their faces outward. It is most commonly met over openings and as a band within an elevation, where the change of orientation reads clearly against the coursing around it.
The orientation has a structural consequence. Because every unit spans the full height of the course, there is no overlap between units within it, and the course is a series of vertical joints side by side. A soldier course therefore has very little ability to span on its own, which is why one over an opening is commonly carried by something else — a member behind it, an angle supporting it, or a lintel it conceals.
Boundaries
How it differs from nearby elements
The distinctions that keep this entry from being a restatement of its neighbours.
- It is not an arch. A soldier course over an opening is flat and does not carry by geometry; it commonly relies on support from behind or beneath, whereas an arch carries load by wedging its units around a curve and pushes outward at its supports.
- It is not a string course. A string course is defined by projecting from or contrasting with the elevation; a soldier course is defined by the units standing on end, and it is frequently flush with the wall around it.
- It is not a bond. A bond describes how a whole wall's courses overlap; a soldier course is a single course that departs from the bond and, as a consequence, has almost no overlap of its own.
Terminology
Common names and aliases
These names describe the same element. The library keeps one entry per component so that a trade term or a regional name never becomes a second, thinner page.
- soldiers
- soldier arch
- upright course
- on-end course
Dependencies
What it depends on
What has to be right elsewhere for this element to do its job.
- What supports it where it crosses an opening, since the course itself has little capacity to span.
- The restraint holding the units in position, because units on end have a small bedding area relative to their height.
- The vertical joints between the units, which are continuous through the course and therefore a direct path for water.
- How it meets the coursing either side, as a course of a different height has to be reconciled with the coursing it interrupts.
Considerations
Topics that genuinely apply here
Subjects worth discussing about this element. These are discussion topics, never measured values, ratings or performance claims.
Without overlap between units, a soldier course does not distribute load along itself the way a bonded course does, which is why what is behind or beneath it matters.
The joints in a soldier course run the full height of the course with no interruption, so water passing through the face has an unbroken route in a way it does not elsewhere.
The course has to reconcile with the coursing either side of it, and the joint widths within it are where that adjustment tends to be absorbed.
Units on end present a different face to the weather than the same units laid flat, and their exposed edges may behave differently from their bed faces.
Materials
Commonly formed from
Material families this element is commonly realised in. This states common practice only — it is not a statement that any of these materials suits this component in a particular building, which depends on the whole assembly and on qualified review.
Assemblies
Building systems this element is met in
The role this component fills inside each assembly. A role describes what the element does there — it is not a statement that this component suits that system in any particular building.
Related elements
Neighbouring components
Typed relationships to other elements. There is deliberately no generic “related” category: an edge that cannot be classified does not exist.
Clarifications
Commonly misunderstood
- That a soldier course over an opening is carrying the wall above. In most cases something behind or beneath it is doing that, and the course is the visible face of the arrangement.
- That a soldier arch is a kind of arch. The name describes the position over an opening, not the way load travels: without a curve, there is no arching action.
Conversations
Questions for qualified professionals
Questions worth asking someone with the project in front of them. This page cannot answer them.
- What is supporting this soldier course where it crosses the opening?
- How are the units restrained, given the course has little bonding of its own?
- Is water penetration at this course related to its continuous vertical joints?
- How does the course reconcile with the coursing either side, and has that affected the joints within it?
Go deeper
Related Build Design Hub guides
Planning guidance behind the decisions this element involves.
Preparation
Related planning checklists
Owner-side preparation before the conversation where this element comes up.
What this entry does not do
- This entry describes a position and an orientation. It states no unit size, no span, no support arrangement and no load capacity, and none can be inferred from it.
- Whether a particular soldier course is supported as its design assumed is a structural question for inspection on site, not something a reference entry can establish.
Wall Leaves & Backing
The distinct vertical layers that make up a wall — outer and inner leaves, the cavity between them, and the backing that supports what is fixed to the face.
Browse all wall leaves & backing entries →