A game-changing new London pub map shows which boozers are currently in the sunshine

Every Londoner knows the feeling. The clouds part, the sun starts to beam down, the city streets bask in warmth – and you’ve got a sudden urge to sink an alfresco pint in the sunshine. 

Pints in the sun are one of life’s simple pleasures, but in a city like London – with its many narrow lanes and ever-growing skyline – finding a pub where you can soak up some rays without being interrupted by shadows is often easier said than done. Well, until now, that is.

A new map has been created, showing which London pubs are in the sunshine at any given time of day. Better yet, not only does the map consider the position of the sun in the sky, but it also takes into account the height of surrounding buildings – thereby telling you which pubs are in a shadow and which ones aren’t. 

Named Sunseekr, the web app was made by Mo Dawod – an architect by trade – and it was initially made to reveal sunny cafés (now, it has the option to show boozers too). Dawod first unveiled the map on Reddit, explaining that it uses real-time shadow simulation, Mapbox navigation software and data from OpenStreetMap. ‘It’s a design experiment, a side project, and a bit of summer fun,’ Dawod said.

Sunseekr is interactive, letting users explore the city’s pubs and cafés in real time, but also helping Londoners to plan ahead: you can set the time you’ll be having a pint/coffee, and see where the best spots will be to get some vitamin D. And if you’re not feeling the sun? The map also serves to show which establishments are in the shade, if you’d rather stay out of the heat. 

Dawod’s project isn’t stopping at cafés and pubs. In the future, he plans to include restaurants with outside seating, as well as to turn it into a mobile app. You can check out the Sunseekr map for yourself here. 

The best pubs in London for boozing and the capital’s top beer gardens.

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