Until 1707, when was signed the Act of Union, Scotland was an independent Kingdom. The Scottish Parliament was first mentioned in Chronicles in the beginning of the XIII century. In the XVII century by order of king Charles I near the Cathedral of St. Giles is built Parliament Hall was the first building of the Parliament.

The act of Union proclaimed the emergence of a new state –the Kingdom of great Britain. The parliaments of England and Scotland were abolished, and instead, appeared the British Parliament, and over the next three hundred years, Scotland was ruled from Westminster, London. During these three hundred years has not abated requirements to recreate the Scottish Parliament, but only by referendum of 1997 was the needed number of votes. In 1999 parliamentary elections were held and hosted the first meeting of the new Parliament of Scotland.

It was decided to build a new Parliament the new building. The construction site was selected historical center of Edinburgh, close to Holyrood Palace. The author of the project – the Catalan architect Enrique Miralles. The original complex of modern buildings should symbolize, by its design, the unity of the Scottish people, its culture and the city of Edinburgh. Like any modern large-scale project (especially one that should fit in the old building) project of the Scottish Parliament building was subjected to merciless criticism from the beginning of construction. The longer construction time of three years and huge – more than 10 times the cost overruns are also not added to the project's popularity. What only epithets were not rewarded with this "Celtic-Catalan cocktail"! The main foyer with low ceilings called "the cave of the troglodytes" and the wooden panels on the facade – "hair driers".

However, many experts and critics believe this project is an architectural masterpiece, noting that it stands out among the old buildings that still does not contradict either the surrounding landscape or architectural appearance of the area.