54 India Street, Edinburgh

54 India Street in Edinburgh is a four-storey and basement tenement building, designed by Robert Hutchison in 1822. It features a nine-bay façade on a terraced site, with shops located to the northeast. The exterior is made of polished sandstone ashlar, with polished V-jointed rustication at the principal floor and broached ashlar at the basement. There are band courses at the principal, first, and third floors, a cill course at the second floor, and a continuous cornice at the second floor that returns and terminates at the corners. The entrance is accessed via ashlar steps and entrance platts that extend over the basement.

On the principal elevation, there are recessed doors in the bay to the right of centre, the third bay from the left, and the penultimate bay to the right. These doors are flush-panelled with rectangular fanlights above. The remaining bays at the principal floor have windows, and the upper floors feature regular fenestration. The third floor has cast-iron window guards over the cornice, except for the penultimate bay to the left and the outer right bay. The basement area is flagged and has coped rubble retaining walls, with vertically boarded timber doors leading to the cellars. Ashlar steps lead to North West Circus Place.

The northeast elevation, which returns to North West Circus Place, is six storeys high and has five bays, with the right bay skewed obliquely. It features later 19th-century shop fronts at ground level, consisting of paired panelled pilasters with consoles and semicircular caps, a continuous fascia and cornice, large plate glass shop windows, and panelled jambs for recessed doors. The upper floors have regular fenestration, with blind windows in the penultimate bay to the left and a small window to the right of the centre of the wallhead stack.

The rear elevation has irregular fenestration and balconies to the outer right of the third floor. The building predominantly features 12-pane timber sash and case windows, a grey slate M-roof, and cast-iron rainwater goods. There are harled ridge stacks, a broached ashlar wallhead stack, and a broached ashlar shouldered wallhead stack at the rear, all coped with circular cans.

The interiors were not seen in 1997, but there is some evidence of working panel shutters. The property is also adorned with ashlar copes topped by cast-iron railings featuring fleur-de-lis balusters and pineapple finials, along with a cast-iron lamp mounted on the railings with a glass globe.