53 University Road, Belfast, Co Antrim, BT7 1NF

53 University Road is a substantial three-storey terrace house built between 1840 and 1843 in the late Georgian style. It forms the northern end of a terrace originally named 'Botanic View', situated on the west side of University Road between Camden Street to the north and Fitzwilliam Street to the south. The terrace comprises this property, three identical neighbouring houses, three similar but lower three-storey houses dating from around 1840–41, and a short two-storey brick group of 1852 at the southern end. All have been converted to flats.

The building underwent extensive renovation around 1984, at which time it was divided into flats and a shared stairwell return was added to the rear, spanning across parts of the adjoining property (No. 55) and replacing the original individual stairwells of both buildings.

The east-facing front façade is asymmetrical. At ground floor level to the left sits the original entrance doorway, now non-functional for flat access. This consists of a panelled and glazed door acting as a window, with panelled pilaster jambs topped by a plain rectangular fanlight. The entire ensemble is enclosed by plain pilasters with decorative console brackets supporting a cornice hood with a tympanum-like blocking course above. Steps and a path lead in front of the doorway. To the right are two flat arch windows, now boarded up. The first floor has two sash windows with 6/6 Georgian panes, directly in line with the ground floor windows, whilst the second floor has two similar but shorter windows in the same alignment. The ground floor level is finished in square channelled rusticated render rendered in a darker shade than the upper floors, which are rendered in plain render with simple moulded window surrounds. It is probable that the first and second floor levels were originally in brick. Bevelled in-out quoins appear at the right (north) end of the façade. The north-facing gable is rendered in plain finish with matching quoins and contains no openings.

The rear (west) elevation formerly contained individual stairwells to each property; these have been replaced by a large, full-height shared stairwell return of circa 1984, positioned to the right side and shared with No. 55. The north face of this return has a sash window at the first half-landing level and a shorter sash window at the second half-landing level. At ground floor on the north face is a doorway with a recent security door providing access to the stairwell and serving the ground floor flat of both No. 53 and No. 55. To the immediate right of this doorway stands a single-storey flat-roofed brick projection housing shared dustbins. The south face of the return repeats this arrangement with small sash windows to the right at both first and second floor levels, both with 4/2 Georgian panes.

The ground floor rear elevation of the main building body (to the left of the return) has two windows on each floor, with the left window larger on each floor and those to the second floor shorter overall. Ground floor windows are covered with security grilles; upper floor windows have Georgian-paned sash frames (first floor 6/6 and 4/2; second floor 6/3 and 4/2). The entire rear elevation is rendered in the same style as the upper floors of the front, with quoins to the left as before. The render is painted in the same two-tone scheme, with darker shading to the quoins.

The main roof is slated, with a mono-pitched slated roof covering the return. A tall rendered chimneystack to the north features a string course and decorative matching pots. Both front and rear elevations have bracketed verge courses, with the rear version plainer. Recent moulded guttering and modern square downspouts are present.

The small front garden is enclosed by low rendered walls and planted with shrubbery.