Kake was born in Australia to a New Zealand Māori mother and a Dutch father. She grew up in an eco-community called Billen Cliffs, which her parents had founded, in rural northern New South Wales. As a child, she frequently visited her mother's family and land near Whangārei. Kake completed a degree in architectural design at the University of Queensland in 2009, followed by a short course in carpentry at a TAFE (a Technical and Further Education college).[2][3]
In her early 20s, Kake moved to Auckland to work for Rau Hoskins and his design firm, designTRIBE.[1] From 2013 to 2015 Kake studied for a master's degree in architecture at Unitec Institute of Technology.[3]
In 2018, Kake established her own business, Matakohe Architecture and Urbanism, in Whangārei, which speclalises in supporting Māori communities to develop their land.[3] Kake is also a lecturer in the School of Future Environments at Auckland University of Technology; she researches and teaches on decolonisation of architecture and urban design, the re-establishment of papakāinga, and the development of design methods to support Māori sovereignty.[3] In 2019 she published a book describing the resurgence of papakāinga.[4]
In 2025 Kake became the first architect in New Zealand to complete her architectural registration in te reo Māori, the Māori language.[5]
In 2018 and 2019, Kake won Warren Trust Awards for Architectural Writing for her essays on Rāpaki Marae and Ruapekapeka. In 2019, she received a Michael King Emerging Māori Writers Residency.[6]
In 2020, Kake won the Munro Diversity Award at the Architecture + Women NZ Dulux Awards.[7] In 2021, she received an award from the New Zealand Society of Authors to support her research into the life and legacy of Rewi Thompson.[8]
