
Spectacle Island
Nova Scotia, Canada

ESCAPE TO SPECTACLE
Of the projects Bernt has engaged in over the years, a small island stands out for its simplicity and compliance with ‘form-follows-function’ and ‘deep content’: Spectacle Island, is located on the South Shore of the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia. Bernt purchased the island back in 2003 but did not build on it until 2012. Today it is used as a family / corporate retreat, good for eight guests. Bernt has kept things simple on purpose, as the focus here is on experiencing a pristine marine environment with only the bare minimum of amenities.




I was introduced to Nova Scotia by a friend. He had invited me and my then wife to watch the procession of Tall Ships sail into the Halifax harbor to celebrate the advent of the new millennium in 2000. His house was overlooking the Mahone Bay, South of Halifax. Sprinkled around this bay were islands, many of them, but one of them stood out: Shaped like a pair of ‘spectacles’ it sat near the outer ring of islands facing the Atlantic Ocean hugging a sandy beach.
SPECTACLE ISLAND

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