How Spielberg Built Disclosure Day’s Wardex HQ

Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day may revolve around alien contact, government secrecy and a race to reveal the truth, but one of its most memorable creations is entirely human: the enormous Wardex command center.

With multiple levels, sharp architectural lines and more than 300 screens monitoring classified information about UFOs and extraterrestrial encounters, the headquarters immediately evokes the spectacular villain lairs once created for classic James Bond movies.

Yet the Wardex set was not designed merely as a futuristic spectacle.

Spielberg and production designer Adam Stockhausen wanted the command center to feel like a place that could genuinely exist beneath the surface of modern America—a secret corporate nerve center where decades of evidence could be collected, analyzed and hidden from the public.

The result is a striking combination of Bond-scale theatricality and unsettling real-world credibility.

What Is Wardex in Disclosure Day?

Wardex is the shadowy organization at the center of the conspiracy in Disclosure Day.

The company has spent decades collecting and suppressing evidence that extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth. Its secret archives contain footage, records and other material that could fundamentally change humanity’s understanding of history.

Josh O’Connor plays Daniel Kellner, a cybersecurity specialist and Wardex whistleblower who steals thousands of classified files because he believes the public has a right to know the truth.

Colin Firth plays Noah Scanlon, the head of Wardex, who launches an increasingly aggressive effort to recover the stolen information before Daniel can release it.

Spielberg described Wardex not as a conventional government agency but as a “deep-state contracting company” that operates beyond normal constitutional restraints. The distinction reflects one of the film’s central ideas: governments may struggle to preserve enormous secrets, but powerful private contractors and technology companies can potentially hide information inside systems that receive far less public scrutiny.

That concept shaped the appearance of Wardex headquarters.

It could not simply resemble a military bunker or a familiar intelligence-agency office. It needed to communicate that Wardex possessed government-level power while functioning as something more secretive, technologically advanced and institutionally unaccountable.

A Command Center Worthy of a Bond Villain

The first images of the Wardex command center naturally invited comparisons to the legendary sets created by production designer Ken Adam for the James Bond franchise.

Adam helped define the visual language of the cinematic supervillain headquarters. His designs often featured immense underground chambers, dramatic geometric structures, enormous control panels and interiors that seemed too ambitious to exist in the real world.

Among his most famous creations were:

• The volcano base in You Only Live Twice
• Fort Knox’s interior in Goldfinger
• The supertanker complex in The Spy Who Loved Me
• Spectre’s meeting chamber in Thunderball
• The iconic War Room in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove

The Wardex headquarters belongs to that tradition of architecture communicating power.

Its vast screens, elevated platforms and commanding sightlines make Noah Scanlon appear less like a corporate manager and more like the ruler of a hidden technological kingdom.

More than 300 screens reportedly fill the command center, allowing Wardex personnel to observe information and operations from around the world. The sleek, multilevel structure was built as a practical set at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn rather than existing only as a computer-generated environment.

However, Stockhausen did not simply copy a Ken Adam Bond lair.

He grounded the design in recognizable architecture, operational facilities and contemporary technology.

Adam Stockhausen Looked to the Real World

Stockhausen’s references included the former AT&T headquarters in New York, NASA mission-control environments, military war rooms, transportation hubs and Japanese Brutalist architecture.

The objective was to create something visually extraordinary without making it feel impossible.

The headquarters needed to appear as though it had been planned by extremely powerful people with unlimited funding—but still constructed according to the functional requirements of a real institution.

The broader structure took inspiration from the nerve centers used to manage railway or transportation networks. These facilities must allow personnel to understand thousands of moving elements simultaneously, making them an ideal model for an organization monitoring secret global events.

Stockhausen also examined the work of Japanese architect Tadao Ando and the monumental qualities of Brutalism. The style’s heavy materials, geometric simplicity and intimidating scale made it especially suitable for Wardex.

Brutalist architecture can suggest permanence and authority. Its structures often seem less concerned with welcoming human beings than with expressing the strength of the institution occupying them.

That emotional effect perfectly serves Wardex.

The organization believes that it alone has the authority to decide what humanity is permitted to know.

Why the Set Feels Both Futuristic and Familiar

The Wardex command center contains advanced technology, but its design avoids exaggerated science-fiction imagery.

There are no unnecessary holograms floating in midair simply because the movie concerns extraterrestrials. Instead, the room is constructed around screens, glass, concrete, controlled lighting and recognizable workstations.

This restraint was intentional.

Spielberg wanted Disclosure Day to feel as though its events were happening in the audience’s present reality—not in a distant technological future.

Stockhausen said it was extremely important to Spielberg that the world feel real. The director did not want the settings to create the impression that viewers were entering an artificial science-fiction universe. He wanted audiences to believe that the conspiracy might be unfolding behind closed doors in the world they already inhabit.

That makes Wardex more disturbing.

A fantastical moon base feels safely fictional. A command center that resembles a combination of NASA, a private technology campus and a transportation-control facility feels plausible.

The audience can imagine it existing.

The Sterile Inner Chamber

Within the larger Wardex headquarters is a more controlled inner space inspired by pathogen laboratories, cleanrooms and quantum-computing facilities.

These are environments designed to remove contamination and minimize unpredictable human influence.

That visual language carries thematic meaning.

Wardex does not treat alien contact as a source of wonder. It treats it as classified material that must be isolated, processed and controlled.

The sterile surfaces imply that information itself has become something dangerous—almost like a biological contaminant that could spread uncontrollably if released.

The contrast is central to Spielberg’s film.

The heroes view disclosure as a path toward connection and a more truthful understanding of humanity’s place in the universe. Wardex views disclosure as an event that could destabilize civilization.

The headquarters therefore looks less like a place dedicated to discovery and more like a facility built to contain reality.

More Than 300 Working Screens

One of the most technically difficult aspects of the Wardex set was its enormous collection of monitors.

These screens were not simply filled with generic visual effects after production had ended. The design team developed much of the interface imagery and surveillance content in advance so that it could appear practically during filming.

Spielberg shot important raid sequences before filming the corresponding Wardex scenes. That footage could then be played across the command center’s screens while Colin Firth and the other performers responded to it in real time.

This approach offered several advantages.

Actors Could See the Events

Instead of staring at blank green panels, performers could observe the operations their characters were supposed to be directing.

Their eye movements and reactions therefore corresponded naturally with the images around them.

Screens Produced Real Light

Hundreds of functioning displays cast changing light and reflections across the room, performers, glass walls and polished surfaces.

Adding all those interactions digitally would have been extremely complicated.

Spielberg Could Compose the Entire Frame

The background information became part of the live composition rather than a placeholder to be finalized months later.

The director could decide which screens should attract attention and how the performers should move through the visual information.

The Set Felt Operational

A practical control room behaves differently from an empty stage.

The displays create rhythm, noise, movement and an atmosphere that can influence everyone working inside it.

Stockhausen described the process as exciting but nerve-racking because so many pieces had to be prepared in the correct order. The earlier action footage, graphics, display systems, lighting and physical architecture all had to function together.

Lighting Was Built Into the Architecture

Cinematographer Janusz Kamiński explained that lighting is frequently incorporated directly into sets on Spielberg productions.

Instead of completing a set and then placing conventional movie lights around it, the design and cinematography departments consider how walls, screens, ceilings, practical fixtures and illuminated surfaces can become the light sources.

The Wardex environment was especially suited to this method.

Its massive walls of monitors, modern shapes and integrated illumination already determined much of the movie’s visual character. Kamiński could then manipulate those elements to support tension, drama and the relationships between the characters.

This integration allowed the command center to appear functional without sacrificing cinematic control.

The screens illuminate faces from different directions. Architectural lighting defines separate levels. Reflections emphasize the amount of glass and technology surrounding Scanlon.

The effect makes Wardex feel constantly active, even when its leader is standing still.

Why Wardex Was Filmed Digitally

Approximately two-thirds of Disclosure Day was photographed on 35mm film, while roughly one-third was shot digitally.

The movie begins with a grounded visual style influenced by 1970s conspiracy thrillers before gradually shifting toward the heightened realism associated with Spielberg and Kamiński’s work.

The Wardex headquarters was among the environments photographed digitally.

That choice complements the location.

Film gives many of the outside environments, homes and ordinary American settings a tactile, organic texture. Wardex feels sharper, cleaner and more electronically controlled.

Its visual precision separates the organization from the imperfect human world beyond its walls.

Digital cameras were also practical when recording hundreds of bright monitors. Screens can produce flicker, exposure problems and color inconsistencies depending on their refresh rates and the camera system being used.

Digital capture offered the production greater control over the complex relationship between performers, displays and integrated lighting.

The Headquarters Reveals Who Noah Scanlon Is

Noah Scanlon does not view himself as a traditional villain.

According to Colin Firth and Spielberg, Scanlon believes he carries an enormous responsibility. He fears that instantly revealing proof of extraterrestrial life could create a psychological and cultural crisis.

People’s religious beliefs, political systems and fundamental understanding of existence could all be destabilized.

Spielberg described this potential reaction as an “ontological shock”—the trauma produced when a person’s basic understanding of reality is suddenly destroyed.

The Wardex command center visually reinforces Scanlon’s perspective.

From his position, he can observe hundreds of information streams at once. He sees more than any ordinary person. The room encourages him to believe that his privileged access gives him the right to make decisions for the entire world.

The command center is therefore not merely his workplace.

It is the architecture of his worldview.

Everything is organized, monitored and contained. Information moves upward toward a small number of decision-makers rather than outward toward the public.

Scanlon’s authority appears natural inside this environment because the building has been designed to place him at the center of knowledge.

Architecture as a Form of Storytelling

The best production design does more than create attractive backgrounds.

It reveals information about characters, institutions and the world of the story before anyone explains them through dialogue.

Wardex headquarters communicates several things immediately:

• The organization possesses enormous financial resources.
• Its reach extends across the world.
• Surveillance is continuous.
• Employees function within a strict hierarchy.
• Information is more valuable than human comfort.
• Transparency exists inside Wardex but not outside it.
• Scanlon occupies the commanding position.
• The organization expects to operate indefinitely.

The multilevel design is especially important.

Characters positioned above others appear to possess greater authority. Bridges and balconies allow leaders to observe workers below. Glass creates visibility without equality, enabling powerful individuals to watch operations while remaining physically separated from them.

The screens provide another layer of meaning.

Wardex has access to overwhelming amounts of information, yet the public knows almost nothing.

The command center is filled with evidence, but it exists to prevent disclosure.

Why Spielberg Avoided Close Encounters Easter Eggs

Because Disclosure Day marks Spielberg’s return to extraterrestrial science fiction, audiences naturally compare it with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

Stockhausen could easily have hidden references to those films throughout Wardex headquarters.

He deliberately avoided doing so.

The production designer said that obvious Easter eggs could pull audiences out of the story by making them think about Spielberg’s filmography instead of the events unfolding in front of them. The goal was to create a world that could stand independently.

Spielberg has also been clear that Disclosure Day is not a literal sequel to Close Encounters.

The movies approach secrecy differently.

In Close Encounters, government institutions conceal alien contact. In Disclosure Day, the evidence is held by a private contractor with access to classified archives and advanced technology.

Wardex therefore represents a distinctly modern form of power.

It is less visible than a government department, less accountable to the public and potentially more capable of controlling vast digital archives.

From Ken Adam Fantasy to Modern Corporate Power

The comparison between Wardex and a classic Bond villain’s headquarters is visually accurate, but the differences reveal how ideas about power have changed.

Traditional Bond villains often operated from extraordinary locations:

• A volcano
• An underwater base
• A giant tanker
• A remote island
• A space station

Their separation from ordinary civilization emphasized their status as outsiders attempting to conquer or destroy the existing world.

Wardex is different.

It appears connected to the existing world. Its technology, contractors and information systems resemble exaggerated versions of institutions that already exist.

The threat does not come from an eccentric criminal operating beyond civilization.

It comes from an organization embedded within the systems society depends on.

That makes Wardex more contemporary.

Modern power often operates through data ownership, cloud infrastructure, private security contracts, surveillance platforms and partnerships between corporations and governments.

The command center updates Ken Adam’s cinematic language for an era in which controlling information may be more valuable than controlling a physical weapon.

Spielberg’s Commitment to Practical Filmmaking

The Wardex set also reflects Spielberg’s continuing preference for giving actors and cameras real environments to interact with.

Although visual effects were used throughout Disclosure Day, many of its sets, action sequences and displays were produced practically.

The KCXE television station was created inside an existing building at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The farmhouse was constructed so that a vehicle could genuinely crash through it. A train sequence combined work on an actual railway with modified train cars brought into Steiner Studios.

Kamiński similarly said that the movie’s major action sequences relied heavily on practical effects, including cars being flipped, structures being struck and performers physically interacting with the train environment.

This philosophy extends to Wardex.

The command center works because it has weight, scale and physical relationships. Actors can walk between levels, look through glass, respond to illuminated screens and feel the size of the institution surrounding them.

A completely digital environment might have appeared larger, but it would not necessarily have felt more convincing.

A Set Designed Around Spielberg’s Camera

The headquarters was not created merely to be viewed from one spectacular angle.

Its levels, platforms and corridors offered Spielberg several ways to stage scenes.

Wide shots could establish the organization’s scale. Lower angles could emphasize Scanlon’s authority. Moving shots could follow characters through layers of workers and information. Glass partitions could place several actions within the same frame.

This flexibility matters because Spielberg often tells stories through movement and visual relationships rather than relying solely on close-ups and dialogue.

A well-designed practical set allows the director to discover shots while filming.

The camera can reveal new spaces gradually, follow a character from one level to another or allow background activity to continue during a foreground conversation.

The Wardex headquarters becomes an active dramatic environment rather than a static backdrop.

Could the Wardex Set Receive Awards Recognition?

Adam Stockhausen is already one of contemporary cinema’s most respected production designers.

He won the Academy Award for The Grand Budapest Hotel and has worked with Spielberg on projects including Bridge of Spies, Ready Player One and West Side Story.

The Wardex command center provides exactly the kind of large-scale signature set that can define an entire film’s visual identity.

Its awards potential comes not only from size but from conceptual clarity.

The design combines:

• Monumental spectacle
• Functional technology
• Architectural research
• Practical screen content
• Integrated lighting
• Thematic symbolism
• Complex staging requirements

The best production design nominees often create worlds that feel visually distinctive while remaining inseparable from the story.

Wardex accomplishes that.

Remove the command center, and Scanlon’s power becomes more difficult to understand. The set gives physical form to the institution the heroes are attempting to expose.

Why the Wardex Headquarters Matters

The command center is memorable because it captures the central conflict of Disclosure Day in one location.

On hundreds of screens sits evidence that humanity is not alone.

The greatest discovery in history has already happened.

But instead of being shared, it is catalogued, classified and monitored by a private institution convinced that ordinary people cannot handle the truth.

The room therefore represents both human achievement and human fear.

Its technology is extraordinary. Its purpose is deeply controlling.

Spielberg and Stockhausen could have designed Wardex as an obviously evil dungeon. Instead, they made it clean, rational and efficient.

That decision makes the organization’s argument more disturbing.

Wardex does not conceal extraterrestrial life because its employees are chaotic monsters. It does so because intelligent, orderly people have constructed a system that transforms secrecy into a professional responsibility.

Final Thoughts

The Wardex command center may resemble a spectacular James Bond villain’s headquarters, but its effectiveness comes from how carefully it is connected to reality.

Adam Stockhausen combined NASA mission control, military war rooms, transportation nerve centers, corporate architecture, cleanrooms and Japanese Brutalism to create an institution that feels both extraordinary and plausible.

More than 300 practical screens turn the set into a living information system. Pre-recorded raid footage allows the actors to respond naturally. Integrated lighting gives the space a distinctive technological atmosphere, while the multilevel architecture places Colin Firth’s Noah Scanlon visibly above the people and information he controls.

The Bond influence gives the headquarters scale.

Spielberg’s insistence on realism gives it credibility.

And the story gives it meaning.

Wardex is not simply hiding aliens. It is guarding the boundary between what powerful institutions know and what the public is allowed to understand.

That is why its command center is more than the most impressive set in Disclosure Day.

It is the physical embodiment of the film’s central question:

Who has the right to control the truth?

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Wardex in Disclosure Day?

Wardex is a powerful private contractor that has collected and concealed evidence of extraterrestrial life for decades. It is led by Noah Scanlon, played by Colin Firth.

Who designed the Wardex command center?

Production designer Adam Stockhausen designed the headquarters. He previously collaborated with Spielberg on films including Bridge of Spies, Ready Player One and West Side Story.

Where was the Wardex headquarters filmed?

The headquarters was constructed as a large practical set at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard.

How many screens were used in the Wardex command center?

Reports describe the headquarters as containing more than 300 screens displaying classified intelligence and operational information.

Were the screens real during filming?

Yes. The production prepared graphics and previously filmed raid footage so the material could be displayed practically while the actors performed.

Why does the set resemble a James Bond villain’s lair?

Its vast scale, multiple levels, control systems and dramatic architecture recall the famous Bond environments created by production designer Ken Adam.

What inspired the Wardex set?

Inspirations included NASA mission control, military war rooms, transportation hubs, the former AT&T headquarters, Japanese Brutalism, Tadao Ando’s architecture, pathogen laboratories and quantum-computing cleanrooms.

Was the Wardex headquarters filmed digitally?

Yes. While around two-thirds of Disclosure Day was photographed on 35mm film, the high-tech Wardex environment was among the material captured digitally.

Is Disclosure Day a sequel to Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

No. Spielberg has explicitly said it is not a sequel, although both movies explore alien contact, secrecy and humanity’s response to the unknown.

Why did Spielberg make Wardex a private contractor?

Spielberg said he doubts governments can preserve secrets indefinitely but believes large technology companies and private contractors may be capable of controlling information and archives more effectively.