Swivelling wooden walls and a steel I-beam are among the ways that Brazilian studio Nildo José Architects has created partitions in this overhauled São Paulo apartment.

GM Apartment is a two-bedroom unit in a condominium tower, located in the city's Vila Madalena neighbourhood, which was revitalised for a businessman.
Original green tiles floors and exposed concrete pillars and ceilings are left intact, and wooden details are used to soften the apartment's interiors.

"The key point was to get out of sameness and look for innovative and unconventional solutions to make the environment welcoming, striving for elegance, integration and well-being," said Nildo José Architects.

The local studio, led by architect Nildo José, reorganised the former three-bedroom unit into a two-bedroom home, by maintaining one room and combining the latter two into a master bedroom with a workspace and an en-suite bathroom.
A row of wooden doors forms a wall to conceal this enlarged room. Each one pivots open in the main living room to reveal the bed beyond.

"The highlight of the project is the pivoting doors that allow the integration of living areas with the suite," said the studio.
The 130-square-metre apartment comprises this bedroom, a living room, a dining room, a galley kitchen, as well a sunken sitting area.

Wooden floors with a white marble slab steps lead down to this lower level, furnished with an L-shaped sofa is nestled.
Also located here are white shelve...