Our firm was selected to design the ANA/Nansay Saipan Resort located on the northeastern side of Saipan Island at Achigau Point on the Matansa Coastal plain. The construction documents were completed for the resort complex which consisted of three towers, the 8-story Concierge Tower, the 12-story Hotel Tower, and the 11-story Condominium Tower which contained 400 hotel rooms and 400 condominium units. In addition to 60,000 square feet of back of house and administrative spaces, the resort supported a health club, ballroom, dinner showroom, meeting rooms, a 2-story parking structure and a sewage treatment plant. The total project consisted of over 700,000 square feet of buildable area. Special design and construction considerations were required of the design team. Saipan is located in a high wind (typhoons) and seismic area and the environment is highly corrosive due to the salt laden prevailing winds. The Matansa plan's geology like many coastal areas on Pacific Islands consists of alluvial deposits over a coral ledge and basaltic rock formations below. Our site was very irregular with the coral ledge falling off from one side of the site to the other. One tower was supported by a mat foundation, the second on friction and bearing piles and the third by friction piles.