The stated aim was to complete the project by 2021, the 150th anniversary of the gallery's founding in 1871.[1] In the same year, the gallery received A$10.8 million from the NSW Government to finance the planning stages of Sydney Modern, which would see the construction of a new building and double the size of the institution. The money was used over the next two years for feasibility and engineering studies related to the use of land next to the gallery's existing 19th-century home, and to launch an international architectural competition.[3]