I have a PaneManager class that manages ContentPanes, and when a user opens a new pane and the active pane is in a SplitPane, the PaneManager morphs the SplitPane into a TabGroupPane.  However, the transition is a bit disruptive, and I'm wondering if there is a smoother way to do it than the obvious:

else if (activePane.Parent is SplitPane)

{

       var split = activePane.Parent as SplitPane;

       split.Panes.Remove(activePane);

       var group = new TabGroupPane();

       split.Panes.Add(group);

       group.Items.Add(activePane);

       group.Items.Add(newPane);

}