Perforated yellow cupboards and drawers resemble slices of Swiss cheese inside this apartment in São Paulo by Brazilian architects Zoom Urbanismo (+ slideshow).

Zoom Urbanismo renovated the flat for a young couple, moving partitions to create an open-plan kitchen, living room and dining area with an original parquet floor and an exposed brick wall.

"The big windows, high ceiling and the good quality of the wooden floor showed that the apartment had potential," said the architects, "but the closed spaces, divided by the walls, had poor lighting and ventilation, and deteriorated wall coverings."

Bright yellow cupboards unite the various spaces and are dotted with holes that mimic star constellations. These holes can also be used as handles.

Thick concrete pillars frame the walls and high ceilings in the dining area and are lined with bookshelves on one side.

Sliding glass doors lead out from the living room to a terrace with a view over the city.

A corridor leads back towards two bedrooms, bathrooms, and a laundry room. These spaces also include perforated cupboards, but feature wooden and white-painted surfaces rather than yellow.

Other apartments we've featured include one in the Ukraine with a combined bookshelf and staircase, a 1950s inspired flat in Tel Aviv and a renovated residence in the Prenzlauerberg district of Berlin.

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Photography is by Maíra Acayaba.

Here's a description from the architects:

Apartment Apinagés 

In the neighbourhood of Perdizes, in São Paulo, a young couple (an executive and a graphic designer) purchased the top apartment in a four-storey charming and old building.

The big windows, the high ceiling and the good quality of the wooden floor (all common in old constructions) showed that the apartment had potential, but the closed spaces, divided by the walls, had poor lighting and ventilation and deteriorated wall coverings.

The internal distribution of the apartment was reorganised in order to optimise and integrate the spaces. The social area became wide and articulated with the kitchen and the back balcony, which also contains the laundry.

A big shelf/cabinet/stand, with a dynamic set of full and empty spaces, links the living room with the kitchen.

The shelves and cabinets have different heights, so that many objects could be stored and shown. The cabinet doors have small holes that, combined, form the geometry of constellations. The holes are also handles for the cabinets.

Location: Brazil, Sao Paulo
Status: constructed
Started: February 2012
Finished: June 2012
Area: 109,00 sqm
Architects: Guilherme Ortenblad, Samira Rodrigues, Augusto Aneas, Fernão Morato (authors), Fabiano Reis, Kathleen Chiang and Lígia Lupo.