The Résidence Lila was created thanks to an urbanisation project from the City of Paris with which the Cité internationale is associated as manager of the student residence and the Cité internationale. The first stone was laid in 2004 and the inauguration took place in 2006 in the presence of Bertrand Delanoë, the then mayor of Paris.
The Résidence Lila is managed by the national foundation Cité internationale universitaire de Paris.
The project was entrusted to Atelier Jade et Sami Tabet who had already realised numerous housing estates in the Paris region. The architects opted for an organisation that favoured exchange and togetherness. They organised the house around an interior garden, in the form of a succession of distinguished pavilions. The communal spaces are grouped together on the ground floor and all have large paved terraces. The residence has 268 rooms that are equipped with a kitchenet, of which 14 are handicap accessible as well as its communal spaces. The accommodation’s furnishing were designed by Bernard Moïse. It is flexible and refined to allow students to better arrange their space.