According to Apple\'s documentation (and touted at WWDC 2012), it is possible to set the layout on UICollectionView dynamically and even animate the changes:
Easy.
Animate your new layout and collectionView's contentOffset in the same animation block.
[UIView animateWithDuration:0.3 animations:^{
[self.collectionView setCollectionViewLayout:self.someLayout animated:YES completion:nil];
[self.collectionView setContentOffset:CGPointMake(0, -64)];
} completion:nil];
It will keep self.collectionView.contentOffset constant.