1 Coates Crescent, Edinburgh

5 Coates Crescent is a grand townhouse forming part of a 37-bay terrace built around 1812-23 by Robert Brown. The terrace is composed of a unified three-bay classical facade, with central and terminal pavilions, and incorporates main-door and common stair flats behind. The building includes basement areas, with some vaulted cellars and retaining walls extending to street level.

The building is constructed of sandstone ashlar, with a droved finish at basement level and channelled detailing to the ground floor. The entrance platts project over the basement. A band course runs along the 1st and 2nd floors, and a moulded cill course sits above the 2nd floor, topped by a simple cornice to the attics. Various dormer styles and later additions are present at attic level. Intricate wrought-iron balconies, supported by foliate brackets, adorn the 1st floor.

The principal south elevation features a central pavilion of three storeys and nine bays, with three bays advanced to the centre. The ground floor of the central section features round arched recessed panel windows. The 1st floor boasts architraved, corniced, and bracketed windows to the outer and central bays, with a stepped parapet and a bas relief panel at the centre. A later addition of a storey with slate hanging and a canted bay is present at number 7. The blocks flanking the central pavilion have round arched doorpieces with narrow sidelights and fanlights – some with radial glazing. A later ashlar attic storey has been added to number 3. The terminal pavilions, one to the west and one to the east, are five-bay, three-storey blocks, with advanced end bays and stepped parapets. The west pavilion has a central ground floor doorway with sidelights, and an entrance platt oversailing the basement. Recessed round arched panel windows are found in the end bays. The 1st floor features architraved, corniced, and bracketed openings, with small scrolled brackets. A single bay return to the east features a blind balustrade between the ground and 1st floors. The return to Walker Street mirrors the south elevation, with a radial fanlight added to the principal doorway. The east pavilion is similar to the west, with a single bay return to the west and a simple balcony added to the 3rd floor.

The building predominantly features 12-pane and 6-over-9-pane timber sash and case windows, with some later plate glass in timber sash and case windows. Original four-panel timber doors remain. The roof is a double pitch M-section with grey slates. Corniced ashlar stacks form part of the parapet, with ashlar ridge stacks. Delicate wrought-iron balconies are present at the 1st floor, and railings with spearhead finials edge the basement recess at street level—along with cast iron rainwater goods.