Joyful Spaces: Casa Batlló, Leanne Armstrong, Founder and Creative Director, Black Ivy Design

Outside our homes, the commercial spaces we inhabit daily should do more than just function – they should enrich our lives and spark joy.  Our new Joyful Spaces series will form a collection of inspiring spaces, chosen by designers and professionals who share their personal connections to the places that brighten their days.

Each article in this series highlights a personally significant commercial space, exploring its history, design, and emotional resonance through the eyes of the contributor. By uncovering the stories behind these spaces, we hope to celebrate the environments that uplift and inspire us.

This new series continues with a Joyful Space chosen by Leanne Armstrong, Founder and Creative Director, Black Ivy Design. In her own words, Leanne reflects on how discovering Casa Batlló, Barcelona, revealed design’s emotional power—a moment of wonder and beauty that reshaped her creative path and continues to inspire joyful, evocative interiors.

Casa Batlló, Barcelona

“There are moments in life when something shifts. A moment that pulls back the veil, that alters your compass just enough to send you on a new course. For me, that moment came when I was 18: a wide-eyed drama student full of questions, already secretly obsessed with the way space can shape a story. And then, in Barcelona, I entered Casa Batlló, designed by Antoni Gaudí, and my mind opened.

I had, of course, heard his name before. Gaudí was the mythical figure I knew from books – an eccentric visionary, a maker of fairytales in stone. Casa Batlló was a kind of emotional architecture that hit me not in the intellect but in the chest. I felt the shift.

It was the first time I realised that design could change the way you feel inside your body. Not metaphorically, but physically. My heart raced, and I smiled without meaning to. It was theatre, and I was entirely under its spell.

Built between 1904 and 1906 on the prestigious Passeig de Gràcia, Casa Batlló is often referred to as the ‘House of Bones’, but there’s nothing macabre about it. It’s a living, breathing celebration of fluidity. Each floor feels like an act in a play – unique, emotional, rhythmically composed. No space repeats itself. Each detail, each flourish, is an ode to the organic. The spiralled ceilings seem to bloom out of the walls like roots twisting up from the earth. Light flows like water. Walls bend. It was like stepping inside the mind of a dreamer – and realising you were home.

What truly stopped me in my tracks was Gaudí’s total commitment to emotional storytelling through form. The ground floor felt like a cave, fluid and earthen, and deeply grounded in the natural world. But climb the stairs and you’re transported – upstairs, the atmosphere turns ethereal, almost sacred. It’s church-like in its quietude and reverence. The juxtaposition between the spaces was profoundly moving. It was a masterclass in how to move someone emotionally without ever saying a word. The language was light. Texture. Tone. Curves.

I remember standing in the central lightwell, watching the way blue ceramic tiles were graded from pale at the bottom to deep navy at the top – a technique Gaudí used to ensure light was evenly distributed throughout the house. The brilliance of it. The thoughtfulness. It was a revelation. I remember thinking: this is what design can do. It can manipulate time. It can soften shadows. It can alter your heartbeat.

That visit changed everything for me. Until then, I thought I wanted to be an actor. But what I really loved was the stage. The sets. The scenes. The way space makes you feel. Casa Batlló cracked that open for me. It made me realise that architecture and interiors can be about emotion as well as aesthetics or function.

Years later, another space rocked me in a similar way: the Hudson Hotel in New York, designed by Philippe Starck. I was 22, just beginning my career in design, and I walked in and felt it again – that emotional charge. The Hudson felt cinematic, theatrical, bold. It was unapologetically designed to make you feel something. It was like being back inside Casa Batlló’s energy, but updated for the modern world – provocative, playful and utterly confident. Those two places sit like bookmarks in my creative journey.

As a designer now, I always return to the lesson Gaudí gave me, standing there as a teenager, in a building over a century old that felt more daring than anything I had seen before: take it further. Don’t play it safe. Design has the power to change how people feel – and that is a power worth honouring. You can invite joy. You can orchestrate awe.

Casa Batlló reminds us that there are no rules when it comes to beauty, only intention. Every tile, every flourish, is in conversation with something greater than itself. And I think, at the heart of it, that’s what makes it joyful. Not just because it’s beautiful, but because it dares to be free.

That is the energy I try to bring into every space I create. A sense of soul. A sense of surprise. A sense that this – this moment, this room, this feeling – is considered in its design. I want people to walk into a space and feel what I felt at Casa Batlló: wonder, curiosity, and a deep, unexpected joy.”

Leanne Armstrong, Founder and Creative Director

Leanne Armstrong, the Founder of Black Ivy Design, is an interior designer with more than 18 years of experience in creating transformative spaces in both the residential and commercial arena.

Inspired by her daughter Ivy and the empowering ethos of the Black Ivy League movement – to strive for high-performing excellence – Leanne established Black Ivy Design during the lockdown period, channelling her passion for elevating interiors into a studio that stands for innovation and individuality.

Armstrong’s design philosophy combines modern aesthetics with functional design, allowing the studio to craft environments that are both beautiful and purposeful. The designer’s impressive portfolio includes notable projects such as The Cream Store, Hush private members club, the Jacobean Hotel, Spire Bar, Sky Blue Tavern and The Green Dragon, each reflecting her meticulous attention to detail and creative flair.

Since launching the studio in 2020, Leanne has gained recognition in design press for her approach to design, understanding of materials and the projects the studio has completed. Currently, she is spearheading exciting ventures, including a new bar and café in Canada Water, London.

Image credit: © Casa Batlló – Gaudí – Barcelona.