4-5 Coates Place, Edinburgh

The building is a bank, designed by John Lessels in 1864 and constructed in 1868. It is a four-storey and basement tenement with classical detailing, located at 1 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh. The building has a three-bay return to Manor Place and a splayed, pilastered corner with a five-bay return to Palmerston Place. A basement area extends to the street, including vaulted cellars and retaining walls.

The building is largely sandstone ashlar, with a droved finish at basement level. Cast-iron balconies are present at all first-floor windows.

The south elevation (facing Coates Place) features entrance platts that oversail the basement. It has a banded base course, a banded sill course at the first floor, and a moulded string course between the windows. A cornice sits above the second floor, complemented by a plain frieze, with corniced eaves. The doorpieces are round-arched, corniced, and consoled, featuring plain fanlights. The ground and first floor windows are moulded and architraved, while the splayed corner to the east showcases tripartite windows with corniced and pedimented detailing at the first floor.

The east elevation (Manor Place) presents as a three-bay, four-storey pilastered tenement block. Pilasters span the first and second floors of the terminal bays, featuring large fielded panels and a cornice with a plain frieze above. A round-arched doorway is centrally located at ground floor, with narrow sidelights and a plain fanlight. The ground floor window surrounds are moulded, with a triangular pediment in the centre, corniced to the sides. Segmental arched surrounds are present at the second floor, with bracketed cills.

The west elevation (Palmerston Place) is a four-storey and basement, five-bay classical townhouse, partially converted to bank premises in the early 20th century, now retail premises as of 2008. It features slightly advanced, pilastered flanking bays. An entrance platt leads to a former corner entrance, which has been converted into a window with an armourial panel above. Two paired pilasters span the first and second floors of the flanking bays. A cornice sits above the second floor, with a plain frieze, and a pedimented window is centrally located at the first floor. Flanking windows are corniced and have scroll motif cast-iron balconies. Segmental arched surrounds are present at the second floor, with advanced bracketed cills and small cast-iron balconies. A shallow, stepped parapet tops the building.

Plate glass is used in timber sash and case windows. Circa 1930s multi-pane metal windows with classical motifs are located at ground floor on the Palmerston Place elevation, fronting the former bank premises. The roof is a double pitch M-section, with corniced ashlar ridge and gable end stacks topped with modern clay cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods are also present.