PHOTO GALLERY: The Epic intergalactic headquarters art collection

Dave Fornell | February 07, 2025 | Health Exec | EMR/EHR

Epic is the largest electronic health record (EHR) and healthcare IT company in the world. This might lead one to believe that a visit to their massive headquarters campus would be a boring sea of corporate office buildings and computer screens. However, that is very far from the truth. The campus is so interesting that it has actually become a regional tourist attraction in the Madison, Wisconsin, area. Most people involved in health IT who are familiar with this collection will say they really look forward to visiting and training at what Epic refers to as their "intergalactic HQ."

To encourage employees to think outside the box and make work fun, the company decided to turn its campus into an adventure-packed setting with unusual art, architecture, slides, and themed office buildings based on Harry Potter, Willy Wonka, The Wizard of Oz, space travel, Alice in Wonderland and many others. The idea is to inspire creativity by surrounding all aspects of the campus with the unexpected.

The public is invited to take self-guided tours of the Epic campus for free. But this is not just a simple stop to stretch the legs while passing through the area. The campus is massive, so to see all of it and its hidden treasures across its 28 office buildings and 410-acre campus would probably require two full days and miles of walking. For information on times when the public can visit and blackout dates for special events, visit the Epic website.

Here is a virtual photo tour of less than half of the Epic buildings.

Humpty Dumpty sitting on a wall at the visitor's entrance into the Epic complex.

Epic HQ campus art. Photo by Dave Fornell

Epic's art installations include large pieces, like this replica of the moon, as well as entire rooms, stairwells, and smaller pieces in walls or shelves throughout the facility.

Many of Epic's art pieces are meant to be interacted with by visitors. This piece was among many from the Epic headquarters that traveled to the annual Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference, where Epic has a large booth filled with art.

The entire campus of buildings is interconnected by tunnels and causeways. This is the entrance to the Wizards Academy Campus at Epic, featuring a strong Harry Potter theme.

A replica of Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter movie series set up between officer buildings on the Epic campus. Photo by Dave Fornell

A replica of Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter movie series is set up between office buildings on the Epic campus.

A Harry Potter-inspired library staircase in Epic's Wizards Academy campus. Photo by Dave Fornell.

The Dementor tunnel connecting buildings in the Wizards Academy office building complex at Epic. Epic HQ artwork. Photo by Dave Fornell

The Dementor tunnel connecting buildings in the Wizards Academy office complex at Epic.

Epic HQ Harry Potter themed office building. Photo by Dave Fornell

A Harry Potter-inspired Diagon Alley Connecting tunnel between office buildings at the Wizards Academy campus.

This cafeteria attempts to replicate King's Cross train station in London and serves as the entryway into the Wizards Academy Campus at Epic. Beware that only staff and customers can order at any of the cafés at Epic, so be sure to bring snacks or plan a big meal before visiting.

Every elevator at the Epic headquarter has an immersive theme.

Gingerbread house conference room and the Grimm office building at Epic that contains art and architectural themes from Grimm fairytales. Gingerbread house conference room on Epic HQ campus. Photo by Dave Fornell

The Gingerbread House conference room and the Grimm office building at Epic, which contain art and architectural themes from Grimm fairy tales.

The Miss Kitty's Saloon conference room at Epic. The entire building it is in has a desert Southwest theme, including a desert garden they created outside the building.

The Southwest desert garden created just outside an Epic office building with the same theme.

The Kings Cross Station includes posters and other props to make it look like the real place.

This office building is a scale reproduction. of the original Smithsonian Institue building on the Washington D.C. Mall.

The Fortress office building on the Epic campus, part of the Wizards Academy Campus.

Epic HQ HEaster Island art. Photo by Dave Fornell

Replicas of the Easter Island moai statues on the Epic campus, which has many outdoor art installations.

The base of a stairwell scene with a dragon about to escape from its dungeon cell out a hole in the wall.

Construction of new office buildings on the Epic campus to expand the workforce as the EMR giant continues to grow.

A replica of the Hogwarts grand moving staircase at Epic in the Great Hall office building. The stairs do not move, but several of the painting charters do and pop up in other paintings along the staircase.

The courtyard of the Wizards Academy office complex with the Fortress office building in the background.

A Hogwarts Express themed train car that is part of the Wizards Academy Campus at Epic.

Entrance into the Alice in Wonderland office building at Epic.

Upside down stairwell in the Alice office building looks like a live Escher drawing.

Office door and hallway in the Alice office building at Epic.

The Grimm office building at Epic looks like it came right out of the German countryside two hundred years ago.

The gingerbread house conferences room interior in the Grimm office building at Epic. Epic HQ artwork. Photo by Dave Fornell

The gingerbread house conference room interior in the Grimm office building at Epic.

Office hallway in the Grimm building.

Office hallway in the Alice building.

The Chocolate factory office building at Epic features chocolate themed art and a three story stairwell that replicates parts of the Willy Wonka chocolate factory production.

The elevator in the Chocolate factory office building at Epic is themed, as are most elevators at Epic. The building features a three story stairwell that replicates parts of the Willy Wonka chocolate factory production.

The Chocolate factory office building at Epic features a three story stairwell that replicates parts of the Willy Wonka chocolate factory production.

A history of chocolate office hallway in the Chocolate factory office building at Epic.

The Epic campus has four life-sized dinosaurs sculptures.

The Epic headquarters campus has more than 600 bicycles for staff and visitors to get around the large campus.

The Deep Space building at Epic is a partially underground meeting center that can seat over 10,000 people and has a Middle-earth theme.

Epic preserved this dairy farm in its campus and maintains it as an operations farm with 40 sheep and 40 cows.

A treehouse near the visitor's entrance into the Andromeda office building.

Office hallway in the Alice building.

One of two fast slides at Epic. This one is "the rabbit hole" which pops out a floor below.

Sculpture in the hallway of the Alice building.

The Emerald City office building on the Epic campus.

The Oz, Jules Verne and Mystry office buildings at Epic.

Conference room with a theme of Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother's house in the Grimm building.

Grimm Building themed elevator in the woods at Epic.

The three story stairwell that leads to the top of Rapunzel's tower in the woods in the Grimm office building at Epic.

Wiley Wonka themed office at Epic HQ. Photo by Dave Fornell

Every elevator at the Epic headquarter has an immersive theme.

One of two slides at Epic to move between levels of the buildings, this one is in the Heaven office building.

Men and women robot pictures for the bathrooms in the Heaven building.

Creature in the woods section of the Andromeda building.

Sculpture in the Andromeda building.

Stairwell with the moon to the tunnel between the Andromeda and Heaven buildings.

Tunnel entrance hall to the Andromeda building at Epic.

Harry Potter inspired library stair case in the Library building of the Wizards Academy Campus at Epic.

The entrance to Hell in Epic's Heaven Building.

The entrance to Hell in the lower level of Epic's Heaven building. When you press the doorbells get get different voices from behind the door.

Art work in a Star Wars-themed area of one of the Epic buildings.

A Star Wars-themed area of an office building that looks like part of the bar in from Tatooine in Star Wars.

Space-themed conference room that looks like it was built into a cave on a Star Wars movie set.

The Stairway to Heaven, which is based on the Fibonacci Spiral in the Heaven office building at Epic.

A 12-foot high dragon sculpture in the large conference room in the Isis building at Epic.

Details on the shelves of the Library buildings stair case.

Harry Potter-inspired Hogwarts library elevator door in the Library building at Epic.

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Dave Fornell

Dave Fornell has covered healthcare for more than 17 years, with a focus in cardiology and radiology. Fornell is a 5-time winner of a Jesse H. Neal Award, the most prestigious editorial honors in the field of specialized journalism. The wins included best technical content, best use of social media and best COVID-19 coverage. Fornell was also a three-time Neal finalist for best range of work by a single author. He produces more than 100 editorial videos each year, most of them interviews with key opinion leaders in medicine. He also writes technical articles, covers key trends, conducts video hospital site visits, and is very involved with social media. E-mail: dfornell@innovatehealthcare.com

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