Every building around you started as an idea on paper. This badge helps you see your community with an architect's eye and try drawing a real floor plan yourself. It's a great fit if you love design, art, or building things.
Why it's worth it
Architects decide how a space makes you feel: a library that invites you to stay, a school hallway that doesn't jam up between classes, a home that stays cool without blasting the air conditioning. This badge trains you to notice those choices and to draw a real floor plan to scale, the same first skill architects learn. It's a great fit if you like art, math, LEGO, or building things, and it can lead to careers that shape whole neighborhoods.
Start this week
- Sketch the floor plan of your bedroom from memory tonight, then measure it tomorrow and see how close you were.
- Ask your Scoutmaster for the name of an Architecture counselor, and send them a short message with a parent copied to set up a first meeting.
- On your next drive or walk, notice the oldest and newest buildings you pass and write down three differences in their shape and materials.
- Gather your tools: graph paper, a pencil, an eraser, a ruler, and a tape measure borrowed from home.
Stay safe
- Construction sites have falling objects, open edges, and heavy equipment. Go only with permission and an adult, wear the protective gear provided, and stay where your guide tells you.
Requirements · 5
Every official requirement and part, numbered to match Scouting America, in plain language. Sign off against the official wording (opens in a new tab).
- Requirement 1
Buildings around you and in history
Tips for this section: Walk around your town with a parent and notice different styles, shapes, and materials. Snap photos of buildings you like.
Example for this section: Tour your downtown with a parent and photograph a courthouse, a church or temple, a school, a house, and a store. Note each one's style, materials, and how it fits its purpose. For the historic study, pick something like the Brooklyn Bridge or a famous early skyscraper.
- Requirement 1a
Tour your community and list the kinds of buildings you see, trying to match some to a historical period or architectural style; sketch the building you admire most
- Requirement 1b
Pick a historic architectural achievement that greatly affected society; research (online with parent or guardian permission, or in books and magazines) how it shapes the world today, and tell your counselor
- Requirement 2
Sustainable architecture
Tips for this section: Look for buildings near you that were turned into something new, like an old factory now used for shops. Talk about what makes a building sustainable.
Example for this section: Find an old building near you that's been reused, like a train station turned into a museum or a factory turned into apartments. Explain how reusing it saves materials and energy compared with tearing it down, and name features like solar panels or big windows that cut energy use.
- Requirement 2a
Discuss with your counselor what sustainable architecture means, and name three common features of green buildings
- Requirement 2b
Discuss with your counselor how renewable and recycled building materials differ and how each is used in construction
- Requirement 2c
Discuss with your counselor how architecture relates to its natural surroundings and to the community
- Requirement 2d
Discuss with your counselor how whole buildings can be reused instead of demolished once they no longer serve their first purpose
- Requirement 3
Meet an architect or a client. Choose 1 of 3
Tips for this section: Ask your counselor or a parent to help you reach a local architect, or someone planning a new home or building. Visit construction sites only with permission and the right safety gear.
Example for this section: If you interview a client, talk with someone planning a new home, addition, or business space about what they need: how many rooms, how each will be used, and what matters most to them. Then write a short program listing the requirements, how the spaces relate, and the project's goals.
- Requirement 3a
With permission from a parent or guardian and your counselor, meet an architect; look at a building's scale model and construction drawings, discuss why its materials were chosen, and study how materials and parts are joined
- Requirement 3b
With permission from a parent or guardian, your counselor, the architect, and the site manager, meet an architect at a construction site (follow all safety rules, wear a hard hat, eye protection, and proper shoes); review the drawings and discuss material choices and how parts are joined
- Requirement 3c
Interview a possible client, like someone planning a new home or business building, about their needs; write a short program listing the project's requirements, the building and site functions, how those functions relate, and the project's goals
- Requirement 4
Measure a room (at home or where your troop meets) and draw its floor plan to scale at ¼ inch = 1 foot, showing walls, doors, closets, windows, and built-ins; label it with your name, the date, the room, and the scale
Tip: Use graph paper and a tape measure. Measure every wall, door, and window, then draw at ¼ inch = 1 foot; on ¼-inch graph paper, each square is one foot.
For example: Measure your kitchen at 1/4 inch = 1 foot. Draw the walls first, then doors with their swing arcs, windows, counters, and the stove and fridge. Add a title, scale, and north arrow, and check that a 12-foot wall measures 3 inches on paper.
- Requirement 5
Learn about three architecture careers; pick one, find out its education, training, and experience needs, discuss it with your counselor, and explain why it might interest you
Tip: Look into roles like architect, landscape architect, or interior designer, and ask what classes help in high school.
Places to visit
Ask an adult to set it up, and go with your family, den, patrol, or crew.
An architecture office
You'll see real drawings, models, and how a team moves a project from sketch to construction documents.
How: Your counselor or a parent contacts a local firm and asks if an architect could give a short office tour to a Scout with a parent or buddy.
A construction site
Seeing the framing, beams, and pipes before walls cover them shows how drawings become a real building.
How: An adult arranges it with the builder or site supervisor. Visit only when invited, stay with your guide, and wear the hard hat and safety gear they provide.
A historic district or architecture walking tour
Guides point out styles and details you'd walk past otherwise, which helps with requirement 1.
How: Have a parent check the local historical society or visitor center for scheduled tours, and go together.
Where it can lead
- ArchitectDesigns buildings and oversees construction; requires a degree, experience, and a license.
- Architectural drafterTurns designs into detailed drawings with CAD software; often a two-year program.
- Landscape architectDesigns parks, campuses, and outdoor spaces around buildings.
- Construction managerKeeps a building project on schedule and budget once it's out of the drawings and on the site.
- Historic preservation specialistHelps restore and reuse old buildings while keeping what makes them special.
Ask yourself
- What building do you love being in, and what about its design makes it feel that way?
- What did you notice about your own town that you'd never paid attention to before?
- What was trickiest about drawing to scale, and how did you fix your mistakes?
- If you could redesign one space in your school or home, what would you change and why?
- Which part of an architect's work interests you most: drawing, solving problems, or working with people?
Good questions to ask an architect
- How do you start a new project when a client first walks in?
- What's a building you designed that you're proud of, and what problem did it solve?
- How do you balance what a client wants with cost, safety codes, and the environment?
- How much of your work is drawing by hand versus on a computer?
- What classes or activities in high school helped you most?
Helpful reads
- Earning a merit badge, step by step, From picking a badge to getting the final signature: how to find a counselor, set up meetings safely, work the requirements, and keep your progress., Youth · Families · 6 min read
- Contacting counselors, experts, and organizations, Email and phone scripts, who to ask for, how to follow up, and how to say thanks, with a parent copied every time., Youth · Families · 7 min read
- Choosing your next merit badge, How to pick a badge you'll actually finish: start with what you care about, balance Eagle-required and just-for-fun badges, and make the most of camp., Youth · Families · 6 min read
For leaders & parents
- Arrange a visit with a local architect who can show real drawings and models.
- Let scouts measure and draw your meeting room together as a group practice run.
People & places that can help
- Merit badge counselor — Talk with them early; they can explain what's expected.
- American Institute of Architects (opens in a new tab) — Information about architecture and how to become an architect.
- Local architecture firms — Architects are often happy to show young people their work.
- National Building Museum (opens in a new tab) — Exhibits and activities about how buildings, bridges, and cities are designed.
- ACE Mentor Program (opens in a new tab) — Free after-school mentoring for high schoolers in architecture, construction, and engineering.
- National Trust for Historic Preservation (opens in a new tab) — Stories of historic buildings saved and reused across the country.
- U.S. Green Building Council (opens in a new tab) — What makes a building green and how LEED certification works.
Pairs well with
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Tips, examples, and questions are ideas from experienced leaders, not extra requirements. Your unit leader or counselor decides when a requirement is complete.