I visited the sprawling 'metroburb' where 'Severance' is filmed. It's a 2 million-square-foot town under one roof.

"Severance" debuted on Apple TV+ in February 2022 to instant critical acclaim.

If you've somehow missed it, here's the gist: The show takes place in a universe where a shady mega-corporation, Lumon Industries, has pioneered a process they called the severance procedure, which entails getting a chip planted into your brain that effectively splits your consciousness.

It means that you have one personality, an "innie," that only comes alive when you're at the office and has no memory of the outside world or who you are. Meanwhile, the other half of you, your "outie," doesn't remember anything about work. All you know is that you got to work, clocked in, and then (seemingly) clocked right back out at the end of the day.

It's a clever satire of what it's like to be in a corporate environment today — more than ever, large companies are discussing the "work-life balance" — in addition to a thought-provoking look at what makes a person who they are.

Bell Works was completed in 1962 and was the home of the iconic telecommunications company Bell Labs. The site was first home to a research site for Bell Telephone Laboratories and was where scientist Karl Guthe Jansky invented radio astronomy.

The complex was designed by Eero Saarinen, a Finnish architect who was behind iconic structures such as the TWA Hotel at JFK International Airport in New York City, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and the passenger terminal at Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC.

At its peak, over 6,000 engineers worked at the 2 million-square-foot building, but when Bell Labs was acquired by telecommunications equipment company Lucent (and then Alcatel-Lucent), there was less need for such a large complex, and it was put up for sale in 2006.

It sat dormant for seven years until the property was purchased by Inspired by Somerset Development for $27 million in 2013. Since then, it's become a mixed-use facility that has been dubbed a "metroburb" by its landlord, Ralph Zucker.

According to Business Insider's Alex Nicoll, the office and retail space inside Bell Works was 95% leased in 2023, up from the pre-pandemic figure of 75%. In 2024, that rose to 99%, per New Jersey Business Magazine.

What's the appeal? For one thing: the convenience. Imagine going to the office and being able to drop off your kid at pre-school and your dog at the groomer, squeeze in a quick game of basketball, get a tasty lunch, check out a library book, and take a pilates class all in one place.

In "The Crowded Room," another Apple TV+ series, Bell Works doubled as a bustling airport.

Season one ended in April 2022 on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger, and then the show didn't return until January 2025.

Season two wrapped in March, with an equally tantalizing cliffhanger. Hopefully, we won't have to wait until 2028 to see how it's resolved — thankfully, at least, the show has officially been renewed.

"Severance" takes place in a fictional place named Kier, PE.

It seems to be stuck in a perpetual winter, so it wouldn't have been right for me to visit on a sunny day.

The census also estimated that the population of Holmdel in 2023 was 17,402.

The signs advertised events, classes, and amenities at Bell Works.

Bell Works is encircled by two ring roads, each going one way. If you can find an aerial view of the grounds, you might catch on to the retro-futuristic vibe.

The image of her swerving around the parking lot in both seasons is something I won't soon forget.

The building was nicknamed the "The Biggest Mirror Ever" by the now-defunct magazine Architectural Forum, and it's easy to see why. The entire six-story facade is covered in reflective glass panels.

We've seen Mark, Helly, Cobel, Mr. Milchick, and more walk up and down these stairs … or have menacing conversations at them.

Bell Works is open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m., and the first floor is entirely open to the public.

However, anyone under the age of 13 must be with a guardian after 6 p.m., and anyone under 18 must be with a guardian after 9 p.m.

I was surprised the building is pet-friendly, and I saw plenty of people walking their dogs inside the building.

Maybe I've been thinking about "The Brutalist" too much, but I was definitely getting some László Tóth vibes from all the concrete.

The turf had floor cushions and seating for people to take a break and imagine themselves lying on the grass on a sunny day. When I got there, it also seemed like the pre-school was using the turf for playtime, since it was too rainy to go outside.

I went into this convenience store at the end of the day to buy snacks for my long drive home.

There's even an escape room, a bank, an urgent care, VR golf, a drama studio, a podcast studio … I could go on.

I would love to have a library inside my office building.

The office space is almost entirely rented out. Among its tenants are technology firms like Nvidia and Cisco.

I spotted a recruiting agency, a law firm, and a wealth management group from my ground-floor vantage point.

I swore I could hear the trademark "ding" somewhere in the distance.

Hey, if you're going to sit inside an office all day, you might as well bring in some greenery.

When I first arrived, these were empty, but on my way out, I noticed that all these chairs were full.

This side of the atrium had a working fountain that was filled with coins people had tossed in.

There were also exterior elevators here, but like the other ones, you needed a badge to get on.

Mark and our other severed friends walk up to this desk every day to clock in for work.

Part of Bell Works' design — and Lumon's — is that it's somehow both futuristic and quite retro. This conversation pit was the first time I really felt like I was stepping back in time.

Someone even played "loml" by Taylor Swift.

The basketball court is open to the public, but you have to provide your ID at the front desk to reserve it.

I did note that the convenience store sold ping-pong balls.

Again, the severed floor is in the basement — whatever goes on down there is not my business.

In all seriousness, the Bell Theater has 285 seats and has many concerts and plays lined up for the rest of the year.

Personally, I have problems working in a completely silent environment — at college, I could never study in the library, which I found too quiet.

Instead, I was most productive at my university's student center, which was a bustling mixed-used building — just like Bell Works.

While sitting at this table, I was able to lock in more easily than I do at home, or even at the office, which is usually on the quieter side.

There were plenty of options, including a greens and grains spot, a cafe, Italian food, ramen, and more.

There was also plenty of seating for people to have lunch together (or alone), take coffee meetings, and more.

Since I was there on a Monday morning, the bar wasn't open. But there were signs all over cautioning people not to bring alcohol out into the main atrium, which leads me to believe it can get pretty poppin' at this bar.

I saw plenty of small groups of people working, eating, and talking together. I also saw parents meeting up to hang out after picking up their kids from school, and teenagers utilizing the ping-pong tables.

If I lived in the Holmdel area, I would definitely make time to visit Bell Works for a change of pace.

It was rainy, so I only saw one other person out there. Even though the weather was poor, I wanted to take a short stroll around.

There were benches along the path.

I enjoyed the landscaping.

There were no signs anywhere that explained what this was, but it was rundown in a way that made me think it's an original building that's been there since the '60s. It looked like it'd been left to the elements.

It took about 2 1/2 hours to get from Holmdel to my hometown on Long Island, around 60 miles away.

Real fans will remember that during the stop-motion video Lumon produced to show the "innies" on their first day back, the water tower was voiced by "SNL" star Sarah Sherman. The Lumon building, of course, was voiced by Keanu Reeves.

The idea of having everything you could need in one place, in order to mesh your work and home lives together, is the exact opposite of what "Severance" is exploring — namely, if you would be happier having your work and home lives be completely, well, severed from each other.

Yes, only needing to go to one location to get everything you could need in your life sounds slightly scary.

But on the other hand, Bell Works reminded me of the concept of the "third place" that's been slowly dwindling since the pandemic.

A third place is what it sounds like: a place that's not home or work/school to get social interaction.

Loneliness is on the rise in this country, and one of the ways to combat this is to have multiple "third places" in your life to meet people — think Central Perk in "Friends," the diner in "Seinfeld," the Peach Pit in "90210." One of the most prevalent third places, as BI has pointed out, is the library.

Bell Works has combined the workplace with multiple third spaces, such as the library, gym, cafés, and the theater.

If a "metroburb" is a way to get more people out of their homes and into the world, I'm all for it — and I won't be advocating for the severance procedure anytime soon.