The Real Lumon Headquarters: A Peek Inside Bell Works

Bell Works in Holmdel, New Jersey, serves as the real-life set for Lumon Industries’ headquarters in Apple TV+’s hit series “Severance.” While Lumon’s fictional offices are portrayed as stark and unsettling in the series, the actual Bell Works atrium is anything but gloomy.

A TikTok video caption enthusiastically invites viewers to “get severed at Lumon” as Sophia Stern captures her experience at this unique office park. Bell Works, originally Bell Laboratories and designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen, boasts a rich history of technological innovation, including the birth of cellular communications and fiber-optic technology. The location has now become a hotspot for fans of “Severance,” with tourists flocking to post about their visits online. Though Bell Works has previously featured in other films and shows like “American Horror Story” and “Jules,” nothing has highlighted it as prominently as “Severance,” which centers on the corporate office experience. The series explores a dystopian workplace where employees’ work and personal lives are starkly divided with brain implants. Developer Ralph Zucker, who transformed the defunct lab into a multi-use complex, notes the surge in visitors sparked by “Severance.” While the offices are closed on weekends, the site teems with people capturing their experience. Despite the influx, there are no official tours, though some visitors humorously note that “they don’t let cameras onto the severed floor.”

Bell Works has always navigated the line between utopian ambition and dystopian design, an idea evident from its inception in 1962. At the time, the Bell System operated as a profitable monopoly on the U.S. telephone market, enabling Bell Laboratories to invest in groundbreaking scientific research. Earlier situated in Manhattan and later Murray Hill, New Jersey, the Holmdel facility embodied a futuristic vision for housing scientists in tranquil isolation. Saarinen designed wraparound labs with scenic views and accessible central atriums to encourage spontaneous collaboration. He even integrated ashtrays into the railings, promoting social interactions as fertile ground for innovation. But, as chronicled by Jon Gertner in “The Idea Factory,” some scientists found its sterile environment stifling compared to the cozy atmosphere at Murray Hill. While differing opinions existed amongst the scientists, the architectural ambition of Bell Works was undeniable; it was meant to be a monument to the era’s unbounded technological aspirations. However, these aspirations began to narrow following the 1984 antitrust breakup of AT&T and a broader corporate shift in the U.S. towards targeted product development rather than open-ended research.