From press release … to scrap metal site: the Essex supercomputer that’s still a scaffolding yard

The press releases announcing a gleaming supercomputer on the outskirts of north London depict a glass and concrete building, rising from a tree-lined street. Accompanied by images of glowing blue robot faces, it looks like the centre of a technological revolution. By the end of this year, that artist’s impression is supposed to be a reality. But when the Guardian visited last month, there was no sign of it. Instead, the four-acre plot in Loughton was a depot stacked with pylons and scrap metal under a corrugated roof, while flatbed lorries drove in and out stacked with poles. Nine months…