Pollock Halls of Residence are the main halls of residence for the University of Edinburgh, located at the foot of Arthur's Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland. They are located on the edge of Holyrood Park, 1 1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) southeast of the centre of Edinburgh.
The two original buildings on site were St Leonard's Hall and Salisbury Green, which were built in the 19th century. Shortly after World War II, Sir Donald Pollock (Rector of the University from 1939 to 1945) gifted the site to the University of Edinburgh and Pollock Halls of Residence came into being.
In the 1960s, a programme was begun to build more modern halls. The first of these was Holland House, which was designed by Sir William Kininmonth (1904–1988); followed shortly by its sister house, Fraser House. In the early 1990s, Holland House and Fraser House began to be run together, and are simply known these days as Holland House.
In the 1960s six system-built tower blocks were added, named in honour of former Edinburgh University Principals: Baird, Ewing, Lee, Turner, Brewster (since demolished) and Grant. At the same time, a Refectory block was opened. This was later named the John McIntyre Centre after the first Senior Warden of the complex, who also acted for a time as a Principal of the University.
The (at the time) largest house, Cowan House, was opened in 1973 replacing a hall of the same name which was demolished to make way for the regeneration of George Square. It was demolished in 2001 along with Brewster House. They were demolished to make way for Chancellor's Court, which opened in 2003 and is now the largest on the site.