Most of his followers know him as RK Thicc, the architect who keeps getting mistaken for a foreman, or as Pourman, the foreman who keeps getting thrown into the concrete pour. Very few of them know that behind both characters is a licensed architect who spent nine years in corporate design, started with master planning at Palafox, and now runs his own design and build firm.
Ar. Sean Leonard De Los Santos of DS Design & Construction sat down with Philippine Tool Talks for the Builder Insider Series. He tried to keep it professional. Pourman had other plans.
Featured Builder
Ar. Sean Leonard De Los Santos (RK Thicc)
Founder · DS Design & Construction
Nine years in corporate, starting with a suit and a tricycle ride
His first job out of school was with Architect Palafox, in the master planning department. It was formal, corporate work. Suits every day, then a tricycle and a jeep to get there. It was also where he learned professionalism: how to talk to clients, subcontractors, and suppliers.
After about four years at Palafox he moved through other design firms, working from macro to micro. Master planning, architecture, interiors, down to construction details. Nine years in total, and by the end of it he had seen almost every scale of the work.
From sideline design to a design and build firm
Freelance requests started coming in. Friends wanted their condos designed, then renovated. He took them on as a sideline, and then something surprised him: the clients wanted him to build it too.
He is honest about how hard that shift was. Design and construction are different jobs, and he had spent most of his career in the office rather than on site. But the requests kept growing, and in 2020, during the pandemic, he formalized it as DS Design & Construction. DS comes from his surname.
Today the firm covers the full range:
- Master planning. Hectares of land, residential or commercial. Give them a blank lot and they can do the development study.
- Architecture. The complete set, including structural, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing, signed and sealed.
- Interior design and fit-out. Condos, residences, and commercial stores.
- Construction. Their own team of architects, engineers, and workers to execute it.
Construction is now the biggest share of what they do, including business-to-business work where partner design firms such as Madhouse Design handle the design and DS Design builds it.
"Opo, engineer." The skit that started everything
Content was never the plan. A college classmate, Architect Dax, had already built a following in showbiz and online with architecture comedy, and kept telling him to try it. The first time they talked about it, in 2019, he said no. He was worried about being bashed, or that nobody would watch.
The push kept coming, though, and not only from Dax. His wife, his high school sweetheart, was the one who kept telling him to do it at home. By 2025 he gave in and started posting a "day in the life of an architect" every day: no script, no talking, just music and clips of his routine. For two months, each one got maybe 300 views, mostly friends and family.
The views were not the point. What stuck with him was the habit. If you can post every day, post every day.
Then Dax came back with a collab idea: a skit about architects always being mistaken for engineers. Dax needed someone to scold. Sean could not play the intern, since they were the same age and he was already a dad, so he chose the foreman. A hard hat, a long lecture from Dax about how he is an architect and not an engineer, and then the foreman turns to the camera:
"Opo, engineer."
It crossed a million views. He did not even have a page yet, so Dax did not know where to tag him. That is how Pourman was born.
Why "RK Thicc"
When he finally made a page, he wanted his real profession in the name. The result is a pun: architect plus thicc. He jokes that it is also a branding decision, since it means he never has to diet. If he ever gets thin, he will have to rebrand.
The momentum kept building. At a product event, he and Dax ran into fellow builder-creators from GLI Construction, shot a quick four-way skit on the spot, and it hit another million views that same night. His page was only about three months old and had around a thousand followers, but he was already collaborating with bigger names: GLI, Madhouse, Conrad, and eventually Convengers, the community group of builder-creators he is now part of.
Still an architect first
His comedy can be loud and a little green, but he describes it as harmless, and he posts the same content across every platform every day. None of it has cost him his standing as a professional. He is still invited to speak by the United Architects of the Philippines. The catch, he says, is that the organizers usually ask where Pourman is.
Clients have found him through the comedy too. One client in the middle of a serious meeting about a large project asked if he was the one in the costume on Facebook, then told him to keep doing it.
Behind the camera, he describes himself as a very chill architect. He gets along well with his team and workers, sometimes too well, since they occasionally wait for a punchline when he is giving an instruction. He balances site visits and design with family time with his wife and five-year-old son, who sometimes appears in the content as the junior architect. He admits the "side quests" have grown to about 80 percent of his week.
Should construction businesses be visible online?
His answer was an immediate yes. Clients now use social media to find suppliers and contractors, the same way they look for products. People who need a build, a repair, a renovation, or an expert to check their home are searching online, and they want to see the people behind the company, not only the company.
Pourman has had an effect he did not plan for: workers feel seen. Foremen and laborers comment as if Pourman is one of their own, a kasamahan, a katropa. For an industry where the people doing the physical work are rarely the ones on camera, that matters.
His biggest challenge now is balance. Pourman has the momentum and gets posted almost daily, while DS Design needs more of the formal, educational content that shows the business side. He points to PHILinspect as the model: a known company, with Mark Ignacio as its recognizable face. He wants DS Design to be as well known as the character.
Turning bashers into content
How does he handle negative comments? He uses them.
One commenter once asked whether his family and friends could possibly be proud of what he does. He admits it stung. So he took the comment, put it at the top of a video, and filled the rest of the frame with clips of people lining up to take photos with Pourman, with his supporters flooding the comments to say they were there for him. The basher ended up feeding one of his better-performing posts.
His advice to other professionals thinking about content is simple: be yourself. Architect, engineer, interior designer, it does not matter. If you have a comedian, actor, or host in you, do what you love. If it turns into content, good. If not, that is fine too.
His favorite tool on site
This is Philippine Tool Talks, so the question had to come. His answer: the laser distance meter. It is handy, fast, and the tool he uses the most.
He also noticed a side effect. When he pulls out the laser measure during a client site visit, clients react differently. It looks more serious, more professional. He laughed at himself for admitting it on camera, but the point stands: using the right tool shows the client you know what you are doing.
The grinder, on the other hand, he leaves to the experts. He says it moves like a cobra in his hands.
Quick Fire Questions
- Coffee or energy drink? Energy drink. He does not drink coffee.
- Site or office? Office in theory, for the aircon. Site in practice, every time. The upside is more content, and seeing the project develop.
- Residential or commercial? Residential.
- Architect or RK Thicc? Architect. "He's the original. Without the architect, there is no RK Thicc."
A bonus appearance from Pourman
After the interview wrapped, the lights went back on for Pourman himself. His boss, he reports, was "sinama sa buhos." Asked how he survives being thrown into the pour so often, his answer was on brand for this podcast: he always gets out, because he has the proper tools.
About DS Design & Construction
DS Design & Construction is a Philippine design and build firm founded in 2020 by Ar. Sean Leonard De Los Santos. The firm handles master planning, architecture with complete engineering sets, interior design and fit-out, and construction for residential and commercial clients. Follow DS Design & Construction for their project work, RK Thicc for Pourman's daily adventures on site, and Convengers for the builder-creator community behind their collabs.
Contact DS Design & Construction
Phone: 0905 496 4592
Email: delossantosdesignbuild@gmail.com
Watch or listen to the full episode
YouTube: youtube.com/watch?v=dOCNdxF3248
Spotify: Philippine Tool Talks episode
Facebook: facebook.com/reel/2154746111921428
More Builder Insider episodes
Architect Claud of SnMAC: From Pandemic Startup to 350K Followers
Mark Ignacio of PHILinspect: What Your Building Isn't Telling You
Gila Salvador of Madhouse Design
Builders & Contractors Directory
Philippine Tool Talks features the architects, engineers, and contractors building the Philippines. If you're a builder with a story worth hearing, we'd like to hear it.
Get in touch with KHM Megatools, 940 Blumentritt Rd, Sampaloc, Manila.
