It was designed by Italian architect Adamo Boari (1863 - 1928) (who also designed the Palacio de Bellas Artes) and constructed by Mexican military engineer Gonzalo Garita y Frontera.
Its architectural style is highly eclectic, with the building being classed as Art Nouveau, Spanish Renaissance Revival, Plateresque, Spanish Rococo style, Elizabethan Gothic, Elizabethan Plateresque and Venetian Gothic Revival and/or a mixture of each. The building also has Moorish, Neoclassical, Baroque and Art Deco elements. There is also a mix of materials and design elements from Europe and Mexico. The palace contains ornaments of marble, plaster of paris and white "cantera" stone from Puebla.