Where Is Severance Filmed?

Apple TV+’s psychological thriller Severance has captivated audiences with its eerie, sterile office spaces and bleak yet beautiful exterior locations. The show’s unsettling atmosphere is deeply tied to its visual aesthetic, with Lumon Industries’ headquarters feeling both futuristic and oppressively mundane. Severance fans have been curious about where these striking locations exist in real life, particularly the corporate labyrinth that serves as the backdrop for the show’s mind-bending narrative. From minimalist office interiors to vast, snowy landscapes, every filming location was chosen to enhance the show’s unsettling tone and surreal storytelling. But where exactly was Severance filmed, and how did these real-world locations contribute to its chilling aesthetic?

Unlike many modern productions that rely heavily on green screens and soundstages, Severance uses real-world settings to bring Lumon Industries and its surroundings to life. Most importantly, the outside of Lumon Industries building has become a character in its own right. Meanwhile, the exterior shots of the town where the characters live provide a stark contrast, capturing the everyday mundanity that underscores the show’s central themes. With a mix of practical locations and carefully curated sets, the filming choices for Severance play a crucial role in immersing viewers in its unsettling world.

Related

Severance Fans Notice Eerie Similarities Between Lumon and Apple

Severance viewers have become increasingly aware of the parallels between Apple and Lumon Industries.

Lumon Industries Exterior

It turns out that the origins of the Lumon Industries building was kind of a lucky accident made by the people in charge of Severance when they dialed up a search on the Google machine. Ben Stiller once talked about how he and his team found the real-life building that has turned into Lumon.

The hulking exterior that has turned itself into a character all its own isn’t actually nearly as intimidating as it looks in the Apple TV+ show. Stiller told the official Severance Podcast in its first episode that the show’s cinematographer Jessica Lee Gangne found the building while simply googling office buildings.

When she and the rest of the production team saw the Bell Labs building in Holmdel, New Jersey they knew it was going to work. Stller added that the weird shape of the parking area and the massive size of the building was perfect. And when the Severance team realized that no one had ever used the exterior of the building for filming, they knew that they had found their Lumon.

Other Severance Season 1 Scenes

Like the Lumon building, Pip’s restaurant has taken on its own personality in part because it seems like this is the restaurant where Mark Scout is drawn to over and over. Perhaps it’s the only bar and grill in town considering that the town of Kier doesn’t seem like it’s a particularly big area. Like the Bell Labs building, Pip’s is not a set that was built for Severance but instead is a real location repurposed for the show. It turns out that the Phoenicia Diner in the Catskills of New York is the setting for this fictional eatery.

The other major scene in Severance that has some serious twists and turns as well as some very interesting imagery is the birthing retreat where Devon and Ricken welcome their new baby. It should come as no surprise considering just how interesting the massive lodges where they go to give birth are, that these are actual buildings and not something built on a set. It turns out that these lodges are part of the Mohonk Preserve Testimonial Gateway in New Paltz, New York.

A great deal of the show is filmed in parts of upstate New York as Mark and Mrs. Colvig’s houses are actually townhouses in Nyack, New York and Irving’s apartment is a real apartment in Kingston, New York. It’s clear that Stiller and company realized it was simply quite a bit easier to adapt real world areas and make them a part of Severance rather than building a bunch of sets and using greenscreen. These decisions have made all the locations in the show look that much more authentic.

Woe’s Hollow Is A Real State Park

One of the most expansive pieces of scenery takes place in Episode 4 of Severance’s second season. The first time the Innies have ever been outside of Lumon when they weren’t using the Overtime Contingency. “Woe’s Hollow,” has the MDR team bundle up and embarks on a snowy ORTBO (Outdoor Retreat Team Building Occurrence). The episode was filmed Minnewaska State Park Preserve in Ulster County, New York and used Awosting Falls as the Woe’s Hollow waterfall. That would be the one that Mr. Milchick claimed was the “tallest waterfall in the world.”

Irving’s dream sequence was filmed in an area called Sam’s Point and the group even filmed scenes in a snowy blueberry field that was part of the state park. Thanks to the fact that this area is naturally rocky and it was indeed filmed in the winter, the area was sufficiently bleak and empty looking for Severance‘s needs.

Severance

Release Date

February 18, 2022

Showrunner

Dan Erickson, Mark Friedman

Directors

Ben Stiller

Writers

Dan Erickson

• 
• 
• 
• 

  Tramell Tillman

  Seth Milchick

More

Severance: What Was Up With That [SPOILER]?

Distant reflections of the severed workers point their creepy path. Then things get weird.