This Magical Campus In Wisconsin Will Make You Feel Like You’re In Hogwarts
Most offices give you fluorescent lights, gray cubicles, and a break room nobody remembers. Wisconsin has something far stranger: a workplace filled with castle towers, secret doors, floating candles, and spaces that look designed for an adventure instead of a meeting.
One hallway might lead through a moving bookcase. Another can send you toward a treehouse, a farm-themed wing, or an underground auditorium that looks like deep space. Every turn seems to reveal something more unexpected than the last.
Thousands of artworks cover the walls, while themed rooms and hidden passageways turn an ordinary tour into something closer to exploring a movie set. Even the staircases feel like part of the attraction.
You do not need an employee badge to see it, either. Public tours open the doors to visitors who want to climb the stairs, spot the smallest details, and see just how wildly creative a workplace can become.
A Great Hall Lit By Floating Candles
Floating candles hang above a long hall lined with wooden tables, and the ceiling stretches so high that your voice seems to disappear into it. The Wizards Academy building at Epic leans fully into the fantasy, and you notice it the second you walk through the doors.
Staff members eat lunch here under those candles, which makes the whole scene feel lived in rather than staged. You will spot stained glass, iron chandeliers, and stonework that looks borrowed from an old European school.
The hall doubles as a gathering space, so tables fill up quickly around midday. During a self-guided tour, you get time to look around, take photos, and study the details throughout the space.
What surprises most people is how quiet the room feels despite its size. Sound travels oddly under those tall arches, and the light shifting through the windows changes the mood hour by hour.
Wisconsin has plenty of pretty buildings, but few of them ask you to imagine yourself holding a wand. Bring a camera with a wide lens, because narrow phone shots cannot capture the full sweep of the room. Take your time here before moving on.
Bookcases That Swing Open Into Secret Passages
Push on the right bookcase and it swings open. Epic built hidden doors and unexpected passageways into several of its themed spaces, and finding them is half the fun of a visit.
Some passages lead to small reading nooks. Others connect one themed wing to another, so you step out of a farmhouse hallway and land somewhere that looks like a spaceship corridor.
Keep an eye out for unexpected doors and details as you follow the self-guided route. You should watch for handles disguised as candlesticks, doors painted to match the wall, and staircases that seem to end at nothing.
Kids love this part, and honestly, so do adults who grew up reading about trick walls and moving staircases. The design idea behind them is simple: workspaces feel friendlier when they surprise you. That playfulness runs through the whole campus, from doorknobs to ceiling murals.
Wear comfortable shoes, since exploring means a lot of walking and a fair number of stairs. Keep your eyes on the walls rather than your phone, because the best details sit at knee height or above your head where nobody thinks to look. You will miss them if you rush.
An Office Treehouse Where Branches Cross The Ceiling
Steps lead up toward Epic’s treehouse, named Endor, before a swinging bridge carries you to its wraparound porch. Built with recycled materials, the simple structure feels more like a real treehouse than a conventional office.
You feel like you climbed up rather than walked in, which is exactly the point.
Nearby, barn-style buildings, silos, and rolling lawns nod to the farmland that once covered this ground in southern Wisconsin. Cows graze at neighboring properties, and the contrast between rural fields and fantasy architecture makes the place memorable.
Photographers do well here in the late afternoon when light hits the wooden beams.
Paths connect the farm buildings, and the walk between them is short and flat. You can pause on a bench, look back at the treehouse, and understand why so many people compare this campus to a movie set.
If you visit in autumn, the surrounding trees turn gold and red, which doubles the effect. Spring works too, when the lawns green up and the whole area feels fresh.
Either way, give yourself extra minutes outdoors before heading to the next building. The views deserve them.
Deep Space, The Underground Auditorium Built For A Starship
More than eleven thousand seats sit under a single roof, buried partly underground, with a stage large enough for a full orchestra. Deep Space is the largest gathering spot at Epic, and it feels more like a science fiction film set than a meeting hall.
You reach it by walking through a corridor lined with alien landscapes and glowing panels. The address for the whole campus is 1979 Milky Way, Verona, WI 53593, and the street name suddenly makes sense once you are standing here.
Company meetings, presentations, and large events fill the room throughout the year.
Ceiling lights mimic stars, and the scale of the space is hard to grasp until you stand at the bottom and look up. Guides often let visitors walk partway down the aisles for the full effect. Photos rarely do it justice, so take a moment to just stand still and look.
Anyone who loves science fiction will get a kick out of the details, including the rock formations and the tunnel entrances. It proves that a Wisconsin business park can look like the inside of a starship if someone commits to the idea hard enough.
Bring your curiosity and a jacket, since the underground level runs cool.
Castle Towers, Emerald City And Storybook Neighborhoods
Castle towers, a lighthouse, an Emerald City, and buildings shaped like Alice in Wonderland scenes all share the same property. Epic organizes its offices into themed neighborhoods, and each one commits to its story from the roofline down to the carpet.
You might walk past a fairy tale turret and then face a building modeled after a grand train station. Themes shift as you move across the grounds, which keeps the walk interesting. Signs help, though getting slightly turned around is part of the experience.
Indoors, the details continue with murals, sculpted characters, and furniture built to match each theme. Some hallways feel like a children’s book, while others lean toward wizardry, mythology, or old world adventure.
As you explore, notice how the different campuses reflect Epic’s growth across the property.
Pace yourself, since seeing everything in one trip is not realistic. Pick two or three areas that interest you most and enjoy them properly.
Families with older kids do well here, especially those who read a lot of fantasy. The themes reward anyone who notices small things, like a doorknob shaped like a key or a window built at a strange angle.
Slides And Spiral Staircases Instead Of Plain Elevators
Sliding from one floor to the next beats waiting for an elevator. Epic installed slides in several buildings, along with spiral staircases, catwalks, and a few stairways that curve in ways architects rarely attempt.
Slides appear in parts of the campus, though visitors should follow any posted restrictions during their tour. They are short, smooth, and built for adults as well as kids.
Beyond the slides, the vertical design deserves attention. Balconies overlook atriums, bridges cross open spaces, and ceilings soar high enough to fit full trees and hanging sculptures. Looking up matters as much as looking ahead.
You will also notice how much natural light reaches the lower floors, thanks to skylights and glass walls. That mix of light and open space keeps the buildings from feeling closed in, even on gray Wisconsin afternoons.
Hold the handrail on the spiral stairs, since the steps are narrower on the inside edge. Take the slide if it is available and you feel steady, because moments like that rarely show up during an ordinary weekday outing.
Little touches like these explain why the campus stays in your memory long after you drive home.
Thousands Of Artworks Waiting Around Every Corner
The art collection here numbers in the thousands. Paintings, sculptures, and installations fill hallways, stairwells, and even parking structures across Epic’s grounds, and much of it comes from artists around the world.
You will find giant hanging pieces, mosaic floors, and mechanical sculptures that move when you pass them.
Some works fit the theme of the building they live in. Others stand out on purpose, giving you something unexpected between corridors and meeting rooms. Look for the dragon, the oversized musical instruments, and the pieces made from recycled materials.
Information around the campus can provide context for some of the collection and themed pieces. That context makes the collection feel personal rather than decorative. Visitors are welcome to take photos, though professional photo shoots require advance permission.
If you enjoy museums, budget extra time. The volume of art on this campus rivals what you would see at a small gallery, and it costs nothing beyond the effort of showing up for a scheduled tour.
Wisconsin holds a fair number of public art collections, though few of them sit inside a working software company. That combination alone makes the walk worthwhile, and you will likely spot something new every few steps.
Planning The Trip So You Actually Get Inside
Tours run on a schedule, and you need to sign up ahead of time. Epic welcomes visitors through its public tour program, so check the official website for available dates, times, and any current requirements before you drive out.
Slots fill up, especially during summer and school breaks.
Plan for at least an hour per campus you want to explore, and bring water. Comfortable shoes matter more than anything else you pack. Parking sits near the visitor entrance, and staff direct you where to go.
The campus sits about fifteen minutes southwest of Madison, which makes it easy to pair with other stops in southern Wisconsin. You could spend the morning here and the afternoon downtown near the lakes.
Photos are welcome during visits, though professional photo shoots require advance permission.
What stays with you afterward is not one single room. It is the sense that someone decided a workplace could be joyful, then built that idea in stone, wood, glass, and paint across hundreds of acres.
You leave thinking about castles and starships instead of cubicles. Put this trip on your list, and give yourself permission to look at every corner twice. Few places reward curiosity quite like it.