300g is like a bunch of exotic books, hardly obscene.
And thing about living space expenditure, supported by this update's remark about "having no cards" in my eyes, is that this is first and foremost a diplomatic, not research, task, for Mathilde. Waystone Project is a cooperative research initiative, sure, but Mathilde's role in here - and arguably most complex part of the whole process - is diplomatic one.
Main challenge of Waystone project is making sure dozen+ of secretive organizations who may or may not punish reveals of their guild secrets with death or worse will, in fact, reveal their secrets, willingly and without it causing a war between forces of Order.
In light of this, spending on living spaces, if it might placate dignitaries, local Elves or anyone, is arguably more important than spending on research facilities.
[X] Plan WEB-MAT & Culture
[X] Plan Redshirt v2 with Divine AV