Ywca, 14 Coates Crescent, Edinburgh

This is a substantial 37-bay terrace of houses and offices on Coates Crescent and Walker Street in Edinburgh, built around 1812-1823 by Robert Brown. The terrace comprises a unified three-bay classical townhouse facade, with a prominent central pavilion and flanking terminal pavilions designed to accommodate main-door properties and common stair flats behind. The basement area extends along the street, incorporating vaulted cellars and retaining walls.

The construction is in sandstone ashlar, with a droved finish at basement level and a channelled finish to the ground floor. The entrance platts (paving areas) project slightly over the basement. A band course runs along the first and second floors, and a moulded cill course is found below the second floor windows. A plain cornice defines the attic level. A range of dormer windows punctuates the roofline, with some later additions and variations in style. A notable feature is the intricate wrought-iron balconies supported by foliate brackets, positioned on the first floor.

The south elevation, which is the principal facade, has a central pavilion of three storeys and nine bays, with a three-bay projection to the centre. The ground floor features round-arched, recessed panelled window surrounds in the centre, while outer and central bays on the first floor have architraved, corniced, and bracketed window openings. A stepped parapet with a bas relief panel crowns the central pavilion. A later three-bay storey has been added to number 18, finished with slate cladding.

The blocks flanking the central pavilion feature round-arched doorpieces with narrow sidelights and fanlights (some with radial glazing). A timber addition at attic level spans numbers 14 and 15, incorporating canted bays. The eastern terminal pavilion is composed of a five-bay, three-storey block with advanced end bays and a stepped parapet. The western pavilion is similarly styled. The return to Walker Street echoes the detailing of the south elevation, and a blind balustrade is found between the ground and first floors on one return.

The windows are predominantly timber sash and case, with 12-pane and 6-over-9-pane glazing, although some later plate glass windows are also present. Original four-panel timber doors are retained. The roof is double pitched in an "M" shape, covered with grey slates. Corniced ashlar stacks form part of the parapet and there is an ashlar ridge stack. Railings with spear-headed finials edge the basement recess along the street, complemented by cast-iron rainwater goods.