What went wrong the first time I coordinated MEP properly. I thought I understood MEP coordination. I'd done it before. I knew the basics. I could read the drawings. I could spot conflicts. Then I worked on a project where MEP coordination actually mattered. Where the ceiling height was tight. Where every inch counted. Where the services couldn't just go wherever they wanted. I learned the hard way that MEP coordination isn't about spotting conflicts. It's about preventing them. It's about designing the architecture to accommodate the services from the start, not trying to fit them in later. The first time, I designed the space. Then I tried to coordinate. That didn't work. The second time, I coordinated as I designed. That worked. The lesson: MEP isn't something you add to architecture. It's something you design with architecture. From day one.