Having everything in one place is really cool, but the ability to put things in other parts of the robot shouldn't be discounted. I've done both and as long as you can get to the connections / devices for repair & replacement it's all good.
I think having an electrical person on the mechanical design team is your best bet. I always harken back to my first car, an AMC Rambler. It was a clear case of the mechanical team and the electrical team never met. Since on that car to replace the starter you needed to pull the engine.
