The Flaming Beacon is a specialist international lighting design practice based in Melbourne, Australia, under the design direction of Nathan Thompson. Having no ties to, or investment in, manufacturers or suppliers, The Flaming Beacon provides informed, intelligent and independent design consultancy and advice. Whilst the company is well known for its work and significant achievements in architectural lighting design - especially in the areas of hospitality and tourism - it also has, through the diverse histories of its members, extensive experience in performance and the visual arts as well as in public art installation and teaching. This breadth of practice and theory in one office means that all projects benefit from a wide knowledge and design base. This breadth also means that every client of The Flaming Beacon benefits from an approach that emphasizes problem solving, that values innovation in process and outcome, and which maintains a commitment to understanding the unique physical, structural, cultural and design contexts of each project The Flaming Beacon believes that technical competency must always be placed in the service of an informed assessment of the needs of each individual project. Lighting design must be founded on a sensitivity to the particular, to the fact that every project is unique, even as it draws on an accumulated knowledge and experience that reaches across a diverse range of activities and histories.