The design of the palace is typical of Catalan modernism in that curves predominate over straight lines, dynamic shapes are preferred over static forms, and rich decoration that emphasizes floral and other organic motifs is used extensively.

As Tim Benton has commented:[2] The wealthy citizens of Barcelona, who were becoming ever more sympathetic to the Renaixença at the time the palace was built, asked its architect for building materials and techniques that symbolized the Catalan character.

In response, he commissioned and gave great creative freedom to a variety of local artisans and craftsmen to produce the fabulous ornamentation, sculpture, and decorative structural elements for which the palace is famous.

The rich decoration of the façade of the palace, which incorporates elements from many sources, including traditional Spanish and Arabic architecture, is successfully married with the building's structure.

The exposed red brick and iron, the mosaics, the stained glass, and the glazed tiles were chosen and situated to give a feeling of openness and transparency.

Even Miguel Blay's massive sculptural group symbolizing Catalan music on the corner of the building does not impede the view into or out from the interior (see photograph).

Each column is covered uniquely with multicolored glazed tile pieces in mostly floral designs and is capped with a candelabrum that at night blazes with light (see photograph).

Above the columns are large busts of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Ludwig van Beethoven on the main façade and Richard Wagner on the side.

The top of the main façade is graced by a large allegoric mosaic by Lluís Bru that represents the members of the Orfeó Català, but it is impossible to see it clearly from the narrow street below.

The former ticket windows, which are located in the center pillar, are beautiful concentric arches adorned with floral mosaics of various materials created by Lluís Bru.

Today, guests generally enter the palace through the foyer, which was created in the renovations of Tusquets and Díaz from what originally were the headquarters of the Orfeó Català.

-David Mackay (Quoted in Carandell et al. 2006, 62) The concert hall of the palace, which seats about 2,200 people, is the only auditorium in Europe that is illuminated during daylight hours entirely by natural light.

The walls on two sides consist primarily of stained-glass panes set in magnificent arches, and overhead is an enormous skylight of stained glass, designed by Antoni Rigalt, whose centerpiece is an inverted dome in shades of gold surrounded by blue that suggests the sun and the sky.

In each of the vaults between the pillars and the glass walls, there is a white tile medallion, bordered with laurel green leaves, with the names of notable musicians.

Robert Hughes has noted how the non-soundproof glass walls of the palace impact the acoustics of the hall: Between 1982 and 1989 parts of the building were restored to their original state, technically upgraded and expanded to allow additional uses.

After World War I the Orquestra Pau Casals performed at the palace, and among composers featured gave presentations of the music of Enrique Granados from 1921 onwards.