The Bahia Balandra Resort & Spa, built in La Paz, Mexico is one of North America’s first noninvasive, naturalist resorts. This resort had two goals in mind that had to work in tandem. First, to provide a premier and unique resort experience to its patrons. But second, and just as important, to preserve and minimize disruption to the area’s natural features. Wendell Burnette Architects had a four-pronged attack to develop this structure while keeping both of these focuses in mind. First, ground breaking was minimized to the areas of the cove and mountain that could easily sustain such change. This was accounted by finding the places where the minimum amount of species displacement and relocation would occur. They also had to balance the location to minimize the threat of flooding to the structure. The coast of Mexico is naturally prone to see dramatic changes in water level between high and low tides. This inconvenience also came with a benefit however. The building is almost completely powered by tidal power, one of the most consistent forms of renewable energy. This Structure is meant to reflect the opportunity we have as humans to coexist with our environment.