James Legge – Architect
James Legge is a storyteller, but his medium is building materials, not words. As one of the six principals of acclaimed Melbourne architecture firm Six Degrees, his passion is for creating and revivifying buildings that have tales to tell. Six Degrees' trademark is a friendly, diverse architecture, devising spaces where people want to be.
Their name was generated – and James insists this story is not apocryphal – when they were discussing possible monikers in their original Richmond premises and one of them glanced at the famous NYLEX clock atop the Punt Road silos which gave the temperature as six degrees. For six architects, all graduates but none registered, the name had special resonance.
'Melbourne is a great city for architects,' James says. 'There is always vigorous debate about architecture in Melbourne, and more and more over the past few years the public has become involved in that discussion as well. People seem drawn towards the architecture of Six Degrees because it references materials everyone knows and has experienced. That connection to urban stories helps give our work a sense of familiarity. I think it's a friendliness, in many ways.'
Architectural gems
'The Great Hall at the NGV International. Roy Grounds (architect) made it a double-height space, and the entire false ceiling is stained glass. It is like going into a cathedral, something outside your everyday experience of architecture. You pay more attention to it because it has proportions completely different to what you're used to. The underground car park at the University of Melbourne. It has champagne glass-shaped columns in order to hold enough soil for the trees above, and the pedestrian entrance is framed by caryatids rescued from the Colonial Bank in the city (built in 1880 and demolished in 1932). The next layer of interest is that it was used in the film Mad Max, as the car park they drive out of in "the last of the V8 Interceptors".'
Meandering
'Melbourne is a great city for moving around and seeing what you can find. I love the bike paths, walking tracks and parklands that follow many of the watercourses. You see so much on the way – historic swimming holes, Aboriginal meeting places, old boathouses. I love bike riding, and Melbourne's bike tracks are first class. It is also great fun wandering the old strip-shopping streets. They are rich with the flavours of the different migrant groups that have set themselves up here. Acland Street, St Kilda; Sydney Road, Brunswick; Victoria Street, Richmond; Lygon Street, Carlton; Hopkins Street, Footscray – they showcase the multicultural side of Melbourne, great for shopping, cheap food, or just exploring.'
Urban Myths
'At Six Degrees we love the urban myths about Melbourne's architecture – some of which are actually true. We like working in and around old buildings with a lot of history. We try to put another layer on top of that and work with the contrasts, rather than just whitewash it and start again. We heard that there was a bowling alley underneath Flinders Street in the Central Business District at one time. We pursued it for a while. We think it existed back in the 1950s but it has since been closed in. We heard there was a ballroom under Smith Street in Collingwood. There really is a ballroom in Flinders Street railway station. We have had some involvement in moves to refurbish it and establish it as a venue for festival events and that sort of thing. We have explored the station and found fantastic disused spaces, including an old gymnasium with ropes hanging from the ceiling where you feel like mustachioed men in tights might appear at any moment.'
