Heta grew up in a small cottage in
Rānui,
West Auckland, and later in
Te Atatū North. Her mother was a school caretaker and cleaner, and her father was a security guard. She attended Ranui Primary School, Te Atatū Peninsula Primary School, Te Atatū Intermediate School and
Rutherford College. After graduating, she took a series of short-term contracts, including for DesignTRIBE, in television and film, and also travelled to the United States. In 2015, she joined architectural design firm Jasmax and began to work with three other Māori architectural graduates to bring Māori design principles to the firm's projects and to engage with local iwi and hapu. At Jasmax, she has worked on projects such as the New Zealand Pavilion at
Expo 2020 in Dubai, the Fale Malae project in Wellington, the
Western Springs College Ngā Puna O Waiōrea development and infrastructure such as stations and pedestrian bridges for the Auckland
City Rail Link project. In 2022, Heta was appointed co-director of the
UIA (International Union of Architects) Indigenous Peoples Work Programme.
Awards and recognition In 2018, she won the Rising Star Award (office-based category) at the
National Association of Women in Construction (New Zealand) Excellence Awards. In 2022, Heta received a Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects President's Award. == References ==